>>>沪江汶川地震专题
【灾难中供给中断造成的疾病】

因灾害所造成的电力中断,会造成饮用水和补给供应的中断,从而增加了由饮水途径传播疾病的机会。电力中断也会影响一些医疗设备的正常工作,包括疫苗的贮藏和低温运输。2003年纽约市大规模供电中断,造成了当地腹泻病症的大量增加。事故造成当地大约九百万居民失去电力供应,时间在数小时到两天不等。当时通过非传统的监测手段发现腹泻疾病的大规模传播。一项有关疾病控制的研究发现,停电使冰箱停止运转,腹泻是由于人们继续食用冰箱中未被保鲜的肉类和水产品而造成的(40)。

Disaster-related Interruption of Services
Power cuts related to disasters may disrupt water treatment and supply plants, thereby increasing the risk for waterborne diseases. Lack of power may also affect proper functioning of health facilities, including preservation of the vaccine cold chain. An increase in diarrheal illness in New York City followed a massive power outage in 2003. The blackout left 9 million people in the area without power for several hours to 2 days. Diarrhea cases were widely dispersed and detected by using nontraditional surveillance techniques. A case-control study performed as part of the outbreak investigation linked diarrheal illness with the consumption of meat and seafood after the onset of the power outage, when refrigeration facilities were widely interrupted (40).