Highlights
Epidemiological weeks 36-41 of 2009
N. of Reporting Units 17/17
Population under surveillance 869 375
− The number of people under surveillance for this reporting period is 869 375 out of 1 073 303 (81%) Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA in the Gaza Strip. This number corresponds to beneficiaries accessing UNRWA health services in 2008;
− The reporting completeness for epiweeks 36 -41 of 2009 was 100%;
− The number of consultations in the period 36 -41 weeks shows more or less a stationary trend with minor fluctuations up and down.
− Watery diarrhoea as well as acute bloody diarrhoea and viral hepatitis remain the major causes of morbidity among reportable infectious diseases in the refugee population of the Gaza Strip. During weeks Thirty six-forty one, the morbidity trend of all watery diarrhoeas (in the <3 years and the >3 years age groups) and of bloody diarrhoea is fluctuating with a noticeable decrease in weeks thirty eight and thirty nine. Hepatitis shows a marked decrease in week thirty nine, and typhoid incidence is fluctuating. This general decrease in communicable diseases is in line with seasonal expectations.
− Alert/alarm thresholds were not breached for any of the major diseases in the reporting period, their incidence remained within the seasonally