Description
Introduction. Climate change – caused by greenhouse gas emissions primarily produced by the Global North – is subjecting Mozambique to increasingly frequent extreme weather events. In April 2023, cyclone Freddy affected 1.3M people and lead to 23,000 cases of cholera. Aim of this study is to explore factors associated with the prevalence of severe diarrhea and cholera among people exposed to cyclones and floods in Mozambique.
Methods. This was a cross-sectional, community-based study assessing prevalence of diarrhea and other gastro-intestinal syndromes among people living in Cabo Delgado province, Mozambique. Data collection was carried out by trained community health workers by face-to-face administration of a structured survey in July 2023. Outcome of the study was self-reported severe diarrhea or cholera in the three months prior to interview. Association of collected variables with study outcome was explored with chi-squared or Mann Whitney U test, as appropriate. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results. This study included a total of 408 households and 2,255 people from six districts of Cabo Delgado province. Participant characteristics are summarized in Table 1. Overall, 26/408 households (6.4%, 95% CI 4.3 to 9.3%) experienced severe diarrhea or cholera in the last three months, and 12/26 (46.2%) involved child aged <5 years. Few households (102/408, 25.0%) were vaccinated against cholera. Factors associated with severe gastro-intestinal syndrome included study district (p=0.01), households with internally displaced people (IDP) (p=0.01), access to electricity (p=0.003), access to soap for handwashing (p=0.01), and source for health information (p=0.01).
Conclusions: Among people affected by Cyclone Freddy, factors associated with cholera or severe diarrhea were being IDP, having access to electricity and having non-healthcare personnel as primary source of health information. These data could guide policymakers in designing targeted climate adaptation interventions.
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