This site needs JavaScript to work properly. Please enable it to take advantage of the complete set of features!
Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

NIH NLM Logo
Log in
Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jan 30;13(1):e0191516.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191516. eCollection 2018.

The impact of Typhoon Haiyan on admissions in two hospitals in Eastern Visayas, Philippines

Affiliations

The impact of Typhoon Haiyan on admissions in two hospitals in Eastern Visayas, Philippines

Joris Adriaan Frank van Loenhout et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objectives: We investigated the short-term impact of Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall, on the pattern of admissions in two hospitals in Eastern Visayas, the Philippines.

Methods: This study took place at Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in Tacloban, and Ormoc District Hospital (ODH) in Ormoc. We determined whether there were differences in the pattern of admissions between the week before and the three weeks after Haiyan by using information on sex, age, diagnosis, ward and outcome at discharge from patient records.

Results: There was a drop in admissions in both hospitals after Haiyan as compared to before. Admissions climbed back to the baseline after ten days in EVRMC and after two weeks in ODH. When comparing the period after Haiyan to the period before, there was a relative increase in male versus female admissions in ODH (OR 2.8, 95%CI 1.7-4.3), but not in EVRMC. Patients aged ≥50 years and 0-14 years had the highest relative increase in admissions. There was a relative decrease in admissions for the ICD10 group 'Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium' (OR 0.4, 95%CI 0.3-0.6), and an increase in 'Certain infectious and parasitic diseases' (OR 2.1, 95%CI 1.2-3.5), mainly gastroenteritis, and 'Diseases of the respiratory system' (OR 1.8, 95%CI 1.0-3.0), mainly pneumonia, compared to all other diagnosis groups in ODH. Out of all reasons for admission within the study period, 66% belong to these three ICD-10 groups. Data on reasons for admission were not available for EVRMC.

Conclusions: The observed reduction in patients after the Typhoon calls for ensuring that hospital accessibility should be protected and reinforced, especially for pregnant women, by trying to remove debris in the direct hospital vicinity. Hospitals in areas prone to tropical cyclones should be prepared to treat large numbers of patients with gastroenteritis and pneumonia, as part of their disaster plans.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Representation of Eastern Visayas, the area affected by Typhoon Haiyan.
The study locations are indicated on the map (Ormoc District Hospital in Ormoc, and Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban).
Fig 2
Fig 2. Number of daily hospital admissions before and after Typhoon Haiyan (November 2013) for Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) and Ormoc District Hospital (ODH).

References

    1. Smith CM, Graffeo CS. Regional impact of Hurricane Isabel on emergency departments in coastal southeastern Virginia. Acad Emerg Med. 2005;12(12):1201–5. . - PubMed
    1. Anderson AH, Cohen AJ, Kutner NG, Kopp JB, Kimmel PL, Muntner P. Missed dialysis sessions and hospitalization in hemodialysis patients after Hurricane Katrina. Kidney Int. 2009;75(11):1202–8. doi: 10.1038/ki.2009.5 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Daito H, Suzuki M, Shiihara J, Kilgore PE, Ohtomo H, Morimoto K, et al. Impact of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on pneumonia hospitalisations and mortality among adults in northern Miyagi, Japan: a multicentre observational study. Thorax. 2013;68(6):544–50. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2012-202658 . - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Guha-Sapir D, van Panhuis WG. Health impact of the 2004 Andaman Nicobar earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2009;24(6):493–9. . - PubMed
    1. Mori N, Kato M, Kim S, Mase H, Shibutani Y, Takemi T, et al. Local amplification of storm surge by Super Typhoon Haiyan in Leyte Gulf. Geophys Res Lett. 2014;41(14):5106–13. doi: 10.1002/2014GL060689 . - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Full text links
Public Library of Science full text link Public Library of Science Free PMC article
Cite

AltStyle によって変換されたページ (->オリジナル) /