ArticleBMJ global health2018
Risk factors and risk factor cascades for communicable disease outbreaks in complex humanitarian emergencies: a qualitative systematic review.
Article in BMJ global health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Identifying the research gap of zoonotic disease in displacement: a systematic review.Global health research and policy · 2021Pooled it
- Traits and risk factors of post-disaster infectious disease outbreaks: a systematic review.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Delivering infectious disease interventions to women and children in conflict settings: a systematic reviefw.BMJ global health · 2020Pooled it
- Changes in household hygiene behaviors and multiple childhood health outcomes following health-behavioral education and health-care facility support: a pre-post intervention study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Knowledge, attitudes, and practices on infection prevention and control among healthcare workers in Rohingya refugee camp.IJID regions · 2025Article
- Handwashing with soap and influencing factors in crisis-affected refugee populations in Kenya and Uganda.Conflict and health · 2025Article
- Integrating anticipatory action in disease outbreak preparedness and response in the humanitarian sector.BMJ global health · 2025Review
- Rapid laboratory confirmation of the 2025 Sudan Virus Disease (Svd) index case in Uganda.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Health and Economic Impact of COVID-19 Surveillance Testing in Seattle Homeless Shelters: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.AJPM focus · 2025Article
- Impact of Transitioning to Treated Water on Diarrhea Reduction: A Cross-Sectional and Ecological Study in Southwestern Goiás, Brazil.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Observational
- Digital Health Technologies in Pediatric Infectious Disease and the Perspective of Patients and Healthcare Professionals: A Review.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Experts' Views on Factors Influencing Resource Allocation for Infectious Disease Emergencies Based on Humanitarian Principles: A Qualitative Study.AJPM focus · 2025Article
- Architecture of systems affecting disease trajectories in a conflict zone: A community-centered systems inquiry in North Gaza.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Quantifying national burdens of foodborne disease-Four imperatives for global impact.PLOS global public health · 2025Review
- Article
- Impacts of climate change-related human migration on infectious diseases.Nature climate change · 2024Article
- Clinical and molecular characteristics of Klebsiella pneumoniae infection in a tertiary general hospital of Wuhan, China.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2024Article
- Unraveling diarrheal disease knowledge, understanding, and management practices among climate change vulnerable coastal communities in Ghana.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- The gender and age perspectives of allostatic load.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Review
- Risk Assessment Tools from the One Health Perspective: A Narrative Review.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCommunicable diseases are a major concern during complex humanitarian emergencies (CHEs). Descriptions of risk factors for outbreaks are often non-specific and not easily generalisable to similar situations. This review attempts to capture relevant evidence and explore whether it is possible to better generalise the role of risk factors and risk factor cascades these factors may form.
methodsA systematic search of the key databases and websites was conducted. Search terms included terms for CHEs (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs definition) and terms for communicable diseases. Due to the types of evidence found, a thematic synthesis was conducted.
results26 articles met inclusion criteria. Key risk factors include crowded conditions, forced displacement, poor quality shelter, poor water, sanitation and hygiene, lack of healthcare facilities and lack of adequate surveillance. Most identified risk factors do not relate to specific diseases, or are specific to a group of diseases such as diarrhoeal diseases and not to a particular disease within that group. Risk factors are often listed in general terms but are poorly evidenced, not contextualised and not considered with respect to interaction effects in individual publications. The high level of the inter-relatedness of risk factors became evident, demonstrating risk factor cascades that are triggered by individual risk factors or clusters of risk factors.
conclusionsCHEs pose a significant threat to public health. More rigorous research on the risk of disease outbreaks in CHEs is needed, from a practitioner and from an academic point of view.
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