Turkey: Many cases of scabies and respiratory disease in earthquake zone

More than five weeks after the earthquake, respiratory diseases and scabies are the most pressing health problems in southeastern Turkey, according to the organization “Doctors of the World”. The itch mite is difficult to combat because people live in a confined space, says Günter Fröschl, board member of the organization “Doctors of the World”, the German news agency.

The skin disease, which is accompanied by intense itching, among other things, is also highly contagious. “The treatment would only go well if the whole tent city is treated,” he said. You really need to do a mass treatment, but this is difficult, especially in remote villages.

The doctor from Munich is currently traveling with a team in Hatay province. The team mainly drives to villages in the mountains near the Syrian border. Many Syrian refugees and especially poorer Turks have fled there. The villages have grown by many times their actual population. Some people lived tightly packed in tents or in containers.

It is generally damp and cold. “A third of the people we treat have respiratory problems: fever, sore throat, up to pneumonia,” says Fröschl. The team also includes employees who come from the earthquake area themselves. “I find it amazing how people participate here, even though they themselves have been badly affected,” says the doctor. (aeg/sda/dpa)