3 Diseases You Might Obtain from Flooded Waters

​Floods have the potential to increase the transmission risk of several infectious diseases. While knowing which conditions you should look out for, also keep in mind to always follow safety protocols.

Water-borne Diseases
There is an increased infection risk if you are exposed to floodwaters. Fortunately, the risk is sometimes low, unless there is a compromise of water sources or a significant displacement of the population happened. Outbreaks due to flooding have several risk factors, and among these is when facilities for drinking water get contaminated. Fortunately, you can minimize the outbreak risks if you are well knowledgeable of the mentioned risk and the priority that the disaster response team addresses first is the clean water provision
 
Infection from the water-borne disease would have an increased risk if you obtained them directly from polluted waters. Wound infections, conjunctivitis, dermatitis, and ENT (ear, nose, throat) infections are some due to contaminated waters. There is no need to be alarmed, though, since the mentioned diseases are not prone to epidemics.
 
Vector-borne Diseases
There may also be an indirect increase in vector-borne diseases due to flooding through the accumulation of vector habitats. Rainfall inevitably causes standing water or overflowing rivers, which then creates an opportunity for mosquitos as their breeding sites. Therefore, increasing the exposure of the population potential for infections such as West Nile Fever, malaria, and dengue. 
 
Although flooding washes out mosquito breeding, these insects typically return once waters recede. Most of the time, there is a lag time of six to eight weeks before a malaria epidemic begins.
 
Contrary to popular belief, there is insufficient evidence of corpses posing a risk of epidemic diseases after natural occurrences. Most of the time, agents cannot survive long inside the body after death -- except HIV, which can last up to six days. Acute infections are usually from survivors. The remains of humans only pose a threat in specific cases that require particular precautions such as deaths caused by cholera or hemorrhagic fevers. 
 
However, workers that handle corpses routinely are also prone to bloodborne viruses (HIV, Hepatitis B or C), tuberculosis, and infections in the gastrointestinal tract (E. coli, typhoid fevers, hepatitis A).

You can gain plenty of diseases from flooded waters due to the exposed contaminants. Make sure you have your flood insurance at hand to save you from unwanted expenses in the hospital.
 
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