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Health Impact Assessment of Cyclone Bejisa in Reunion Island (France) Using Syndromic Surveillance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2015

Pascal Vilain ,
Frédéric Pagès ,
Xavier Combes ,
Pierre-Jean Marianne Dit Cassou ,
Katia Mougin-Damour ,
Yves Jacques-Antoine  and
Laurent Filleul
Pascal Vilain*
Affiliation:
Regional office of the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance, Saint-Denis, Reunion Island, France
Frédéric Pagès
Affiliation:
Regional office of the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance, Saint-Denis, Reunion Island, France
Xavier Combes
Affiliation:
University Hospital Centre, Saint-Denis, Reunion Island, France
Pierre-Jean Marianne Dit Cassou
Affiliation:
University Hospital Centre, Saint-Pierre, Reunion Island, France
Katia Mougin-Damour
Affiliation:
Hospital Centre, Saint-Paul, Reunion Island, France
Yves Jacques-Antoine
Affiliation:
Hospital Centre, Saint-Benoît, Reunion Island, France
Laurent Filleul
Affiliation:
Regional office of the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance, Saint-Denis, Reunion Island, France
*
Correspondence: Pascal Vilain, MS Cellule de l’InVS en Région (Cire) Océan Indien ARS Océan Indien 2 bis avenue Georges Brassens CS 61002 97743 Saint-Denis cedex 9 (La Réunion) France E-mail: pascal.vilain@ars.sante.fr
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Abstract

Introduction

On January 2, 2014, Cyclone Bejisa struck Reunion Island (France). This storm led to major material damages, such as power outages, disturbance of drinking water systems, road closures, and the evacuation of residents. In this context, the Regional Office of French Institute for Public Health Surveillance in Indian Ocean (Cire OI) set up an epidemiological surveillance in order to describe short-term health effects of the cyclone.

Methods

The assessment of the health impact was based mainly on a syndromic surveillance system, including the activity of all emergency departments (EDs) and the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) of the island. From these data, several health indicators were collected and analyzed daily and weekly. To complete this assessment, all medical charts recorded in the EDs of Reunion Island from January 2, 2014 through January 5, 2014 were reviewed in order to identify visits directly and indirectly related to the cyclone, and to determine mechanisms of injuries.

Results

The number of calls to the EMS peaked the day of the cyclone, and the number of ED visits increased markedly over the next two days. At the same time, a significant increase in visits for trauma, burns, and carbon monoxide poisoning was detected in all EDs. Among 1,748 medical records reviewed, eight visits were directly related to the cyclone and 208 were indirectly related. For trauma, the main mechanisms of injury were falls and injuries by machinery or tools during the clean-up and repair works. Due to prolonged power outages, several patients were hospitalized: some to assure continuity of care, others to take care of an exacerbation of a chronic disease. An increase in leptospirosis cases linked to post-cyclone clean-up was observed two weeks after the cyclone.

Conclusion

Information based on the syndromic surveillance system allowed the authors to assess rapidly the health impact of Cyclone Bejisa in Reunion Island; however, an underestimation of this impact was still possible. In the near future, several lines of work will be planned by the authors in order to improve the assessment.

VilainP, PagèsF, CombesX, Marianne Dit CassouPJ, Mougin-DamourK, Jacques-AntoineY, FilleulL. Health Impact Assessment of Cyclone Bejisa in Reunion Island (France) Using Syndromic Surveillance. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(2):1-8

Keywords

cyclonic stormshealth impact assessmentnatural disastersyndromic surveillance
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , April 2015 , pp. 137 - 144
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2015 

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