In her tent in Gaza City, Rouba Saadeh, her legs covered in blisters, struggles not to scratch, affected by an outbreak of chickenpox that is spreading in the camps for displaced people in the devastated territory, with disastrous hygiene conditions.
In the makeshift family shelter, the eight-year-old girl endures the stifling heat and itching as best she can.
“ The doctor told us we had to wash her every day and keep her isolated for 20 days.", his sister, 19-year-old Alaa Saadeh, told AFP: But how? We all live in the same tent!“
While usually mild in children, chickenpox is causing concern among doctors in the territory who spoke with AFP. In overcrowded camps for displaced people, where water is scarce, lesions become infected more easily and the disease becomes difficult to contain, they explain.
UNICEF reported this month that nearly 9,300 suspected cases of chickenpox had been recorded in the Gaza Strip, mainly in Khan Younis in the south.
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Under the tents, overcrowding, lack of water and hygiene products worsen the outbreak of chickenpox.
“ This is the most densely populated area of the Gaza Strip.“,” recalls Louise Wateridge, spokesperson for this UN organization: “ families live practically on top of each other“.
In a Palestinian Red Crescent clinic, children file past in silence, their expressions grave. One after another, they lift their t-shirts to show hundreds of blisters, some ruptured and oozing.
Opposite, Raed Abdel Karim Abu Sariya, a dermatologist, tirelessly repeats the same instructions: isolate the sick, clean the skin daily, avoid scratching the lesions… All recommendations that are almost impossible to apply.
“ People with chickenpox must be isolated because the disease is transmitted through the respiratory system." he explains, " Imagine 10, 15, or even 20 people living in a small tent, where can they isolate a sick person?“
Alaa Saadeh also believes that the large number of cases is linked to " to the overcrowding in the tents, to the fact that we only receive water once a week, and that it is salty“.
"CWe've been living through this war for three years now, my father is unemployed and we can't afford hygiene products." , adds the young girl.
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Chickenpox adds to a health crisis marked by infections and skin diseases
“ What have we done to deserve to live like this?", his little sister chimes in, We are covered in spots!“
“ I used to shower every day." she told AFP. But " Now there is no more soap, no more shampoo, no more laundry detergent (…) we live in tents and I can't sleep because of the rats!“
With makeshift schools operating at a reduced capacity, and only in certain areas, children often spend their days in camps surrounded by stagnant water, playing among mounds of rubbish or rusty car carcasses, all under a blazing sun.
According to doctors, the spread of the disease illustrates the worsening public health problems faced by the displaced population of Gaza, where preventing infections has become almost as difficult as treating them.
International humanitarian organizations regularly warn about the dramatic shortage of medical supplies.
“ Chickenpox is only part of the problem; there are also respiratory infections, watery diarrhea… More than half of households now report skin diseases, fleas, lice, or scabies." , Ms. Wateridge added in an interview with AFP.
“ The number of children requiring hospitalization is increasing, even as Gaza's health system is on the verge of collapse." she notes.
The health system of the small territory suffered severe damage during the two-year war between Israel and Hamas, triggered by the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023.
“ Whether it's chickenpox or any of these other illnesses, they won't disappear until the underlying causes are addressed." , Ms. Wateridge believes, calling for more drugs to be allowed to enter the territory.
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