After the floods which left at least 217 dead in Spain according to a still provisional report, the stagnation of water and the possible contamination of drinking water raise fears of a health risk for the population.
In the localities most affected by the floods in Spain, anger and distress still predominate, six days after the tragedy. Many streets remain clogged with piles of cars, trash, and covered in mud. To this landscape of desolation is now added a strong smell.
“The more the days go by, the more the mud dries and the more the smell comes out, so we are giving masks to all the people who come,” explains Carlos, a volunteer in the town of Picanya on BFMTV.
An odor revealing the health risks linked to the situation. Indeed, water stagnates, sanitation networks are disrupted, and drinking water can mix with waste water and thus be contaminated.
“Microorganisms capable of causing infections”
“Stagnant waters, especially those containing mud, provide an ideal environment for the proliferation of vectors (mainly mosquitoes and cockroaches), rodents and microorganisms that can cause infections in humans,” explain au media El Diario José María Martín-Moreno, professor of preventive medicine and public health at the University of Valencia.
The risk for humans is thus to contract infectious diseases, in particular bacterial gastroenteritis, due to pathogens such as E. coli, Salmonella or even Shigella. Hepatitis A can also be transmitted or even leptospirosis in the event of water contaminated by the urine of infected animals, mainly rodents.
This disease “can penetrate the skin of a person who comes into contact” with contaminated water. “It is unlikely, but we must take into account this bacteria which produces fever and which, in certain cases, can affect the liver and the central nervous system”, underlines with The World Antoni Trilla, specialist in preventive medicine and public health and dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Barcelona. Another risk: infections skin and eyes.
An “unlikely” epidemic
On the other hand, according to experts, an epidemic of cholera or typhus is “very unlikely” in Spain, notes El Mundo. “In Spain we do not have cholera. The possibility of infection cannot be ruled out 100%, because it could be that there is someone with an infected pathology and that contamination has occurred. produced, but the probability is very low,” says María Velasco, spokesperson for the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC).
To avoid a health crisis as much as possible, the first responsibility however falls on the authorities who must implement preventive actions, according to specialists.
“The key to avoiding a public health crisis lies in the speed of these interventions,” says to the EFE press agency José María Martín-Moreno, also a doctor in epidemiology and public health from Harvard University.
Floods in Spain: how are relief and clean-up organized in the disaster areas?
He repeats that it is important to ensure access to safe sanitation facilities, to drinking water”, to “promote good hygiene practices”, to “treat stagnant water” or even to “monitor the “possible appearance of infectious epidemics”. He specifies that the risks increase 72 hours after a flood.
Wearing a mask, glasses and gloves recommended
Actions must therefore be respected by the authorities on site and by the volunteers who work to clean the streets and find the missing. They are recommended to wear a mask, goggles, waterproof boots, gloves, long-sleeved clothing and long pants.
“It is recommended that people who participate in cleaning tasks wear boots and gloves with which they must not touch their face, cell phone or anything that will come into contact with the mouth and mucous membranes,” specifies María del Mar Tomás, specialist in microbiology and also spokesperson for the SEIMC in the Spanish daily.
For the general population, it is advisable not to eat any food that may have been in direct contact with flood waters, to eat cooked or peeled foods and to wash your hands even more regularly than usual.
According to a latest report, at least 217 people died in the floods that occurred last week, including 213 in the Valencia region alone, three in Castile-la-Mancha and one in Andalusia. But the final toll could be heavier: an unspecified number of residents are still missing and many underground car parks, completely flooded, have not yet been fully inspected.
