Conflicts in Gaza and around the world create a perfect storm for infectious disease outbreaks

Epidemiology of ocular surface symptoms and their association with stress levels among the Gazan population in crowded shelters during the 2023 Israel war

PURPOSE

To investigate the status of ocular surface symptoms and their relationship to stress levels among the Gazan population during the 2023 Israel-Hamas War.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study involved stratified sampling of participants from the four Gaza districts in Palestine. Individuals aged 18 years or older completed the Arab Ocular Surface Disease Index (Arab-OSDI) questionnaire and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) to assess stress levels.

RESULTS

A total of 426 participants (238 males and 188 females) completed the Arabic versions of the OSDI and PSS-10 questionnaires. The mean Arab-OSDI score was 21, with 40.6 % of participants scoring ≥23, the threshold for moderate to severe DED symptoms. Participants with moderate or high perceived stress levels had significantly higher mean Arab-OSDI scores than individuals with low stress levels (p = 0.029). Logistic regression analysis identified age over 50 years, and the high PSS as significant factors associated with Arab-OSDI scores ≥13 (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The findings indicate a high prevalence of dry eye symptoms among the Gazan population during the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, with moderate to high perceived stress levels significantly associated with these symptoms.

Maternal health challenges in the Gaza conflict and its impact on nursing

BACKGROUND

The Gaza conflict, characterized by ongoing violence and restricted access to healthcare, poses significant challenges to maternal healthcare. Studies indicate that the conflict exacerbates malnutrition, trauma, and healthcare worker burnout, compromising the physical and psychological well-being of pregnant women and hindering nursing practice.The aim of this paper is to critically examine maternal healthcare challenges in the Gaza conflict and their implications on nursing functions, highlighting the need for evidence-based interventions to improve health outcomes for patients.

METHODS

The evidence for this paper has come from observations and experience, discussion with colleagues and reveiw of avialable emperical and non emperical literature.

DISCUSSION

The conflict has undermined the quality and availability of maternal healthcare services, exposing pregnant women to increased health risks while burdening nurses with unsustainable workloads and emotional strain. The current response is inadequate, highlighting the need for a comprehensive and coordinated approach to address the systemic challenges faced by mothers and healthcare providers.

CONCLUSION

To mitigate the impact of the conflict on maternal health, a concerted effort is required from healthcare professionals, policymakers, and international organizations to restore healthcare infrastructure, secure essential supplies, and provide mental health support for nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

The Gaza conflict underscores the need for policy interventions to prioritize trauma-informed care, enhance nurses' training in resource management, and ensure access to essential supplies and equipment. By addressing these challenges, it is possible to improve maternal health outcomes and support the critical nursing role in this conflict-affected setting.

Transforming global public health: Climate collaboration, political challenges, and systemic change

Amidst the global challenges of the 21st century, an urgent call emerges to redefine global public health in response to the multifaceted threats of climate change, political denial, and systemic barriers. This study employs a critical analysis approach, combining a narrative literature review with Action Research, to assess the health impacts of climate change and identify pathways for resilience. Direct and indirect implications-ranging from heat-related illnesses and vector-borne diseases to mental health challenges and displacement-are highlighted, alongside barriers posed by governance structures and economic disparities. A novel collaborative framework, CLIMBED COOL, is introduced, emphasizing adaptation, transformation, and transition as key strategies to address these challenges. Findings also underscore the importance of robust education, simulation-based training, and structured data-sharing mechanisms through regional Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and global databases. This study advocates for a paradigm shift in global governance and collaboration, ensuring holistic and sustainable solutions for future generations.

Model-informed optimal allocation of limited resources to mitigate infectious disease outbreaks in societies at war

Infectious diseases thrive in war-torn societies. The recent sharp increase in human conflict and war thus requires the development of disease mitigation tools that account for the specifics of war, such as the scarcity of important public health resources. We developed a compartmental, differential equation-based disease model that considers key social, war and disease mechanisms, such as gender homophily and the replacement of soldiers. This model enables the identification of optimal allocation strategies that, given limited resources required for treating infected individuals, minimize disease burden, assessed by total mortality and final epidemic size. A comprehensive model analysis reveals that the level of resource scarcity fundamentally affects the optimal allocation. Desynchronization of the epidemic peaks among several population subgroups emerges as a desirable principle since it reduces disease spread between different subgroups. Further, the level of preferential mixing among people of the same gender, gender homophily, proves to strongly affect disease dynamics and optimal treatment allocation strategies, highlighting the importance of accurately accounting for heterogeneous mixing patterns. Altogether, the findings help answer a timely question: how can infectious diseases be best controlled in societies at war? The developed model can be easily extended to specific diseases, countries and interventions.