Gaza residents face new threat from antibiotic-resistant disease, says Lancet research
The 22-month old war with Israel has crippled the medical supplies in the country and tens of thousands of people have been injured while several others have been suffering from malnutrition. Hence, the high levels of drug-resistant bacteria would signify more illness with a longer duration and a rapid transmission of infectious diseases leading to more deaths, experts said.
The peer-reviewed research comment, published in the Lancet Infectious Disease on Tuesday, is the first since the war between Israel and Gaza based Hamas militant group began in October 2023 and suggests a prevalence of multi-drug-resistant bacteria in Gaza.
According to epidemiology adviser to Médecins Sans Frontières, who is also the co-author of the studies on drug-resistant bacteria in Gaza, 'This will mean longer and more serious illnesses and a high risk of transmission to others. It means an increased risk of death from really common infections. It means more amputations. It's a horrible picture.'
The study published in the Lancet Infectious Disease is based on 1,300 samples collected from al-Ahli hospital in Gaza, where one of the rare microbiology laboratories is still functional. Samples were taken from the patients over a 10-month period last year and two-thirds of them showed the presence of multi-drug-resistant bacteria.
One of the authors of the study, Bilal Irfan, called the results 'particularly alarming'.
'We don't even know the true scale because of the destruction of almost all the laboratories and the killing of a lot of the medical staff, so to even get a small insight into what is happening in Gaza is extremely important,' Irfan said, quoted The Guardian.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza has now killed more than 61,000 people and injured over 158,000 since the war began in October 2023.
(with inputs from The Guardian)
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Khan Younis, Aug 14 (AP) The dead body of 2 1/2-year-old Ro'a Mashi lay on the table in Gaza's Nasser Hospital, her arms and rib cage skeletal, her eyes sunken in her skull. Doctors say she had no preexisting conditions and wasted away over months as her family struggled to find food and treatment. Her family showed The Associated Press a photo of Ro'a's body at the hospital, and it was confirmed by the doctor who received her remains. Several days after she died, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday told local media, 'There is no hunger. There was no hunger. There was a shortage, and there was certainly no policy of starvation." In the face of international outcry, Netanyahu has pushed back, saying reports of starvation are 'lies" promoted by Hamas. However, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric this week warned that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at the highest levels since the war began. 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Her mother, Fatma Mashi, said she first noticed Ro'a losing weight last year, but she thought it was because she was teething. When she took Ro'a to Nasser Hospital in October, the child was severely malnourished, according to al-Farra, who said Ro'a had no preexisting conditions. At the time, in the last months of 2024, Israel had reduced aid entry to some of the lowest levels of the war. The family was also displaced multiple times by Israeli military operations. Each move interrupted Ro'a's treatment as it took time to find a clinic to get nutritional supplements, Mashi said. The family was reduced to one meal a day — often boiled macaroni — but 'whatever she ate, it didn't change anything in her," Mashi said. Two weeks ago, they moved into the tent camps of Muwasi on Gaza's southern coast. Ro'a's decline accelerated. 'I could tell it was only a matter of two or three more days," Mashi said in the family's tent Friday, the day after she had died. Mashi and her husband Amin both looked gaunt, their cheeks and eyes hollow. Their five surviving children – including a baby born this year — are thin, but not nearly as emaciated as Ro'a. top videos View all DeWaal said it's not unusual in famines for one family member to be far worse than others. 'Most often it will be a kid who is 18 months or 2 years" who is most vulnerable, he said, while older siblings are 'more robust." But any number of things can set one child into a spiral of malnutrition, such as an infection or troubles after weaning. 'A very small thing can push them over." (AP) GSP (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: August 14, 2025, 20:45 IST News agency-feeds Malnourished kids arrive daily at Gaza hospital as Netanyahu denies hunger Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. 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