Gaza – Madleen Khalla – SafaThe people of the Gaza Strip are facing a severe wave of influenza, amid a deteriorating health situation and a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies, which threatens the lives of thousands, especially children and the elderly who live in catastrophic humanitarian conditions.Field health clinics are experiencing unprecedented overcrowding with influenza patients waiting to receive medication, while only limited quantities of fever reducers and antibiotics are available.In one of the displacement centers southwest of Gaza City, Hanadi Abu Amsha sits taking care of her two young sons after they were afflicted with a high fever, a severe cough, and a runny nose, symptoms that at first glance appear to be due to the effects of the weather depressions.But on the second day, the symptoms worsened significantly, developing into a severe case of influenza, as diagnosed by doctors, which confined the two little ones to bed for more than a week.
Serious threatAbu Amsha told Safa News Agency: “My child’s temperature rose suddenly, and the situation was more difficult than I expected. I didn’t have any medicine, and I kept monitoring their temperature for fear that their condition would worsen.”She adds, “I went this morning to a medical point in the vicinity of the displacement camp in the Ansar area, and the cases were diagnosed as influenza, but I did not receive any medicine because it was not available.”She continued, “I started looking for some fever reducers and found some used bottles from my neighbors in the camp, but these reducers did not help at all.”She indicates that she relied on cold water compresses and some hot drinks to protect her two children from developing pneumonia and bronchitis.
severe sufferingThe situation of citizen Ahmed Abu Awad is no different from his predecessor, as he too is suffering from severe flu symptoms, but he has not found treatment in pharmacies.Abu Awad describes his condition, saying: “I woke up in the middle of the night suffering from severe pain in my body. I felt as if my bones had broken and I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow.”He adds, “I went to the medical point, but the treatment was just a few Acamol pills, which had no effect on this type of flu.”He continues, “I have never had such a severe case of influenza before. Even the treatment prescribed by the doctor was not available in pharmacies and hospitals in the sector.”
Drug shortagesDr. Bassam Abu Nasser warns of a rise in cases of influenza and viral diseases in the Gaza Strip.Abu Nasser tells Safa News Agency that the danger of this type of influenza is compounded by the difficult health and living conditions in the Gaza Strip, coupled with a shortage of medicines and weak immunity among large segments of the population, especially children and the elderly.He confirms that these injuries leave clear effects on the respiratory system, and their symptoms often appear in the form of headaches, fever, and general body aches.He adds that malnutrition and the lack of adequate health care lead to serious respiratory complications, and thus increase the spread of cases infected with viral diseases.Viral illnesses, such as the flu, do not require antibiotics, only fever reducers and painkillers to relieve symptoms, in addition to eating foods that boost immunity. Gaza, influenza , health situation, medications
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