After the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric station by Russian criminals and the leakage of billions of cubic meters of water, a number of experts warned of the risks of an outbreak of diseases that are the consequences of floods.

As it turned out, the first fixation of such diseases is possible this week. This was stated in a comment for TSN.ua by authoritative epidemiologist, expert of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in the field of epidemiology Natalia Vinograd.

"I assess the risks as extremely high," says Natalia Alekseevna. - This is not a regional problem, but an absolutely state one. An emergency situation that coincided with a period of risk for an increase in the incidence of intestinal infections. If we get to the problem with hepatitis A in a month or later, now we may have a number of bacterial infections. The second is a number of viral infections and parasitic infections. In the people, the latter are better known as worms. There is erosion of soils in which there are so-called geohelminths. In the event of such situations that have occurred, there will necessarily be an increase in the likelihood of infection risk. The reason is water pollution by pathogens, lack of drinking water among the population."

According to the professor, the main risk is associated with water.

"The intestinal group of infections will be mandatory. The second is the erosion of cemeteries, burials of people, animals. From there, a number of pathogens can also appear," says the epidemiologist.

She emphasizes that if water is in the first place in the list of hazards, then in the second place - unwashed products or washed with water of inappropriate quality, without heat treatment.

A lot of harmful substances from the hydroelectric station itself got into the water / Photo: t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official

When will the first patients appear

When asked how much time usually passes from such an emergency to fixing the first cases of morbidity, Natalia Vinograd answered us as follows:

"It depends on the incubation period, on what kind of infectious disease it is. From one day to 45 days. There is such a thing as the cascade of infectious diseases in water epidemics. 45 days incubation period of hepatitis A, one and a half months. But before that there will be astroviruses, rotaviruses, even earlier – noroviruses, a bunch of enteroviruses. Children will be faster than adults. Two or three days and may appear."

There are almost no historical parallels

According to Vinograd forecasts, there will be no epidemic due to flooding, but there will be epidemiological complications. "That is, an outbreak of morbidity," says the expert.

According to Vinograd, given what is happening now in the Kherson region, where there is a combination of infectious threat with shelling and mine-explosive danger, it is difficult to even draw any historical parallels.

"Such a massive destruction of the territory with such a combination of centers of threats at the same time - other nations do not know this," the specialist summed up.

Recall that the territories that were under water after the invaders blew up the dam of the Kakhovka HPP are not only flooded, but already polluted.

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