{"title":"Cholera in Lebanon: A new epidemic in an on-going endemic of weak infrastructure","authors":"Nada M. Melhem , Mirna Bou Hamdan","doi":"10.1016/j.jiph.2025.102745","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>On October 6, 2022, the WHO declared the start of a cholera outbreak in Lebanon, the first cholera outbreak since 1993. The aim of this review is to advance the evolution of the cholera epidemic in Lebanon and its underlying risk factors. Early during the outbreak, the majority of confirmed cases were reported among displaced Syrian refugees living in suboptimal conditions; however, three weeks following the former, cholera spread nationwide. This spread was exacerbated by the decline in water treatment investments, lack of electric supply in water treatment plants and collapsing healthcare and economic infrastructures. Addressing the structural root causes is urgently needed in order to mitigate the re-emergence of cholera and other infectious diseases spreading among vulnerable populations and thus threatening national and regional health security.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16087,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Infection and Public Health","volume":"18 6","pages":"Article 102745"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Infection and Public Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034125000942","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"INFECTIOUS DISEASES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
On October 6, 2022, the WHO declared the start of a cholera outbreak in Lebanon, the first cholera outbreak since 1993. The aim of this review is to advance the evolution of the cholera epidemic in Lebanon and its underlying risk factors. Early during the outbreak, the majority of confirmed cases were reported among displaced Syrian refugees living in suboptimal conditions; however, three weeks following the former, cholera spread nationwide. This spread was exacerbated by the decline in water treatment investments, lack of electric supply in water treatment plants and collapsing healthcare and economic infrastructures. Addressing the structural root causes is urgently needed in order to mitigate the re-emergence of cholera and other infectious diseases spreading among vulnerable populations and thus threatening national and regional health security.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Infection and Public Health, first official journal of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences and the Saudi Association for Public Health, aims to be the foremost scientific, peer-reviewed journal encompassing infection prevention and control, microbiology, infectious diseases, public health and the application of healthcare epidemiology to the evaluation of health outcomes. The point of view of the journal is that infection and public health are closely intertwined and that advances in one area will have positive consequences on the other.
The journal will be useful to all health professionals who are partners in the management of patients with communicable diseases, keeping them up to date. The journal is proud to have an international and diverse editorial board that will assist and facilitate the publication of articles that reflect a global view on infection control and public health, as well as emphasizing our focus on supporting the needs of public health practitioners.
It is our aim to improve healthcare by reducing risk of infection and related adverse outcomes by critical review, selection, and dissemination of new and relevant information in the field of infection control, public health and infectious diseases in all healthcare settings and the community.