Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T13:24:27.540Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Clinical Characteristics of the Inhabitants of an Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo After the Arms Dump Blast on March 4, 2012

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2014

Inge Roggen ,
Gerlant van Berlaer ,
Geert Gijs  and
Ives Hubloue
Inge Roggen*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
Gerlant van Berlaer
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
Geert Gijs
Affiliation:
Department of Crisis Management, Federal Public Service of Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, Brussels, Belgium
Ives Hubloue
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
*
Correspondence: Inge Roggen, MD Department of Emergency Medicine Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel Vrije Universiteit Brussel Laarbeeklaan 101 1090 Brussels, Belgium E-mail [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

On March 4, 2012, an arms dump exploded in a densely populated area in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. At least 250 people were killed, 2,500 wounded, and 13,800 left homeless, of which 5,000 were relocated to a newly constructed internally displaced person (IDP) camp.

Aim

To describe the medical complaints of persons presenting to the IDP camp for medical evaluation.

Patients and Methods

All patients seen and treated by the Belgian First Aid and Support Team (B-FAST) in the IDP camp on March 10 and 11, 2012 were included. A unique number, age, gender, and inventory of complaints were registered on standard World Health Organization (WHO) forms.

Results

Out of 245 presenting patients, 242 files were processed. One in two patients were minors (<18 years-old), the male/female ratio was 50/50 in minors and 28/72 in adults; median (range) age in minors was three years (0-17) and for adults was 32.5 years (18-68). Twenty percent of the children were determined to be malnourished. Signs and symptoms related to infectious diseases were present in 75% of minors and 53% of adults. Trauma was present in 12% of minors and 21% of adults.

Conclusions

One week following the disaster event, after people had relocated to IDP camps, infectious diseases became the predominate reason for seeking medical evaluation. Less than one in five people presenting to the medical post had injuries directly related to the event. Demographic data showed that around 50% of people in the IDP camp presenting for medical care were children, of which one in five was malnourished.

RoggenI, van BerlaerG, GijsG, HubloueI. Clinical Characteristics of the Inhabitants of an Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo After the Arms Dump Blast on March 4, 2012. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2014;29(5):1-5.

Keywords

disasterinfectious diseaseinternally displaced persons camp
Type
Special Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 29 , Issue 5 , October 2014 , pp. 516 - 520
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Drs. Roggen and van Berlaer contributed equally to this paper.

References

1. UNHCR - Internally Displaced People. UNHCR. http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c146.html. Accessed June 2, 2014.Google Scholar
2.Brennan, R, Nandy, R. Complex humanitarian emergencies: a major global health challenge. Emerg Med (Fremantle). 2001;13(2):147-156.Google Scholar
3.Moss, W, Ramakrishnan, M, Storms, D, Henderson Siegle, A, Weiss, W, Lejnev, IML. Child health in complex emergencies. Bull World Health Organ. 2006;84(1):58-64.Google Scholar
4.Noji, E. Public health in the aftermath of disasters. BMJ. 2005;330(7504):1379-1381.Google Scholar
5.Bartels, S, Van Rooyen, M. Medical complications associated with earthquakes. Lancet. 2012;379(9817):748-757.Google Scholar
6.Toya, H, Skidmore, M. Economic development and the impacts of natural disasters. Economics Letters. 2007;94(1):20-25.Google Scholar
7.Noy, I. The macroeconomic consequences of disasters. Journal of Development Economics. 2009;88(2):221-231.Google Scholar
8. UNHCR - Children. UNHCR. http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c1e8.html. Accessed April 1, 2012.Google Scholar
9.WHO Expert Committee. The selection and use of essential medicines. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser. 2007(946):1-162.Google Scholar
10. The Interagency Emergency Health Kit 2006. WHO, World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/tools/IEHK2006.pdf. Accessed May 18, 2012.Google Scholar
11. ICD11 Beta. World Health Organization. July 30, 2012. http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd11/browse/f/en. Accessed July 31, 2012.Google Scholar
12. UNICEF. A summary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF. http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publication-pdfs/crcsummary.pdf. Accessed May 5, 2012.Google Scholar
13. World Health Organization. WHO, Weight-for-age. WHO, World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/weight_for_age/en/index.html. Accessed April 1, 2012.Google Scholar
14. World Health Organization. Physical Status: the Use and Interpretation of Anthropometry. Report of a WHO Expert Committee. Geneva: WHO Technical Report Series No. 854; 1995.Google Scholar
15. Depoortere E, Brown V. Rapid health assessment of refugee or displaced populations. Vol. Areas of assessment and indicators; 2006:28.Google Scholar
16. World Health Organization. Global Burden of Disease Study. http://www.globalburden.org/. Accessed July 31, 2012.Google Scholar
17. van Berlaer G, Staes T, Danschutter D, Gijs G, Hubloue I. Physical complaints of Haitian children in IDP camps 2 weeks after the 2010 earthquake: data to be published.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Lopez Varela E, Ferraz M, Lafuente A, Gonzalez I. Children are disproportionately affected by infectious disease in complex humanitarian emergencies: Pakistan floods 2010. Paper presented at: ESPID, 2012; Thessaloníkí, Greece.Google Scholar
19. Aid in action. ECHO homepage. http://ec.europa.eu/echo/aid/index_en.htm. Accessed May 15, 2012.Google Scholar
20.Gessner, B. Acute lower respiratory infection in the developing world. Expert Rev Respir Med. 2011;5(4):459-463.Google Scholar
21.Guerrier, G, Zounoun, M, Delarosa, O, et al. Malnutrition and mortality patterns among internally displaced and non-displaced population living in a camp, a village or a town in Eastern Chad. PLoS One. 2009;4(11):e8077.Google Scholar
22.Grandesso, F, Sanderson, F, Kruijt, J, Koene, T, Brown, V. Mortality and malnutrition among populations living in South Darfur, Sudan: results of 3 surveys, September 2004. JAMA. 2005;293(12):1490-1494.Google Scholar
23.Schaible, U, Kaufmann, S. Malnutrition and infection: complex mechanisms and global impacts. PLoS Med. 2007;4(5):e115.Google Scholar