Chile is a country with relatively mild infectious disease activity based in part by the temperate climate and well-established medical, public health, and sanitation infrastructures. Unlike Haiti, the percentage of both rural and urban populations who have access to clean water and adequate sanitation facilities is high. Furthermore, Chile has achieved successful annual vaccination campaigns against a variety of diseases including diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B, hepatitis B, measles, pertussis, polio, rotavirus, tetanus and tuberculosis.
In the past year, the disease entity associated the greatest social concern among the country’s population has been pandemic (H1N1) influenza. The typical onset of seasonal influenza transmission in Chile occurs during the month of May and abates during the month of September. Currently, the conditions for influenza transmission are not optimized and herd immunity for pandemic H1N1 is likely high given they have already seen substantial transmission. Therefore, the risk level to see disruptive pandemic influenza transmission is minimal.
We await further clarity on tsunami activity and associated impact in other areas of Chile and the Pacific Rim. Impact of tsunamis is of concern for affected coastal populations given the potential for damage to water distribution infrastructure followed by contamination from sewage and salt water. Contamination of water supplies will increase the risk of diarrheal diseases as seen in Haiti. As the impact of the 27 February 2010 earthquake in Chile is evaluated and reported, we will expand our risk assessment for all localities of relevance.
Sources:
http://apps.who.int/whosis/database/core/core_select_process.cfm?countries=chl&indicators=PopAccessImprovedWaterUrban&indicators=PopAccessImprovedWaterRural&indicators=PopAccessImprovedSanitationUrban&indicators=PopAccessImprovedSanitationRural
http://www.who.int/immunization_monitoring/en/globalsummary/countryprofileresult.cfm?C='chl'
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