Chickenpox Surges in Gaza Camps Amid War-Induced Overcrowding and Poor Hygiene

Eight-year-old Ruba Saadeh is confined to the tent she shares with her family in Gaza, her body dotted with inflamed red blisters as chickenpox sweeps through overcrowded camps like the one they inhabit. Doctors and displaced families report a surge in the highly contagious disease in recent months, attributing it to the war that has forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into cramped tent camps lacking clean water for hygiene.

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The doctor told us she needs daily cleaning and should be isolated for 20 days. But how can we isolate her? We all live in one tent.

"The doctor told us she needs daily cleaning and should be isolated for 20 days," Ruba's 19-year-old sister Alaa told AFP. "But how can we isolate her? We all live in one tent." UNICEF stated that health officials had recorded over 9,300 suspected chickenpox cases across Gaza by early July, concentrated mainly in Khan Yunis in the south.

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That's the most densely-populated area in the Gaza Strip... families are sheltering almost on top of each other.

"That's the most densely-populated area in the Gaza Strip... families are sheltering almost on top of each other," spokeswoman Louise Wateridge told AFP. Raed Abdel Karim Abu Sariya, a dermatologist with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, confirmed that a lack of space to isolate patients is fueling the spread. "Chickenpox patients must be isolated because the disease spreads through respiratory infection," he said. "But in Gaza's camps, he said, separating the sick from the healthy is virtually impossible."

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Chickenpox patients must be isolated because the disease spreads through respiratory infection. But in Gaza's camps, separating the sick from the healthy is virtually impossible.

"Imagine 10, 15 or even 20 people living in a small tent. Where can they isolate a patient?" he asked, as he diagnosed a child with a telltale rash. AFP footage showed stagnant pools of murky water filled with garbage surrounding makeshift shelters, with children walking barefoot. Alaa blamed the spread on "overcrowding in the tents, and the fact that we only get water once a week, and it's salty and not clean." The family also struggles to obtain basic cleaning products. While chickenpox is often a manageable illness in wealthier nations, the insalubrious conditions in Gaza's camps make it difficult to prevent its spread or manage symptoms. "We have been living through three years of war. My father is unemployed and we cannot afford to buy cleaning materials," Alaa said.

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Imagine 10, 15 or even 20 people living in a small tent. Where can they isolate a patient?