Prevalence of Diseases among Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh: A Comprehensive Study

Background: Bangladesh has experienced an influx of refugees several times from 1992 to 2017. It is estimated that about 700,000 Rohingya refugees have fled over to Bangladesh following violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State on 25 August 2017. A greater number of diseases like unexplained fever, acute respiratory infection, acute watery and bloody diarrhea, cough and COPD related complications predominantly occurred as a result of that huge scale of Rohingya influx. Objective: To date, very few studies have evaluated FDMN (Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals) disease prevalence that predominantly experienced in Rohingya camp settings at Cox-Bazaar. The aim of this prospective controlled study was to establish the frequency of diseases that predominantly affected the Rohingya community based on age and gender. Methodology: This study has been performed under cross-sectional study, Where we observed weekly emergency URMN morbidity and mortality reports by PHD (Partners in Health and Development) for 6 months (1 st April to 30 th September, 2018). So, while conducting the study, we collected daily as well as weekly reports and their follow-up records of huge number patients. We evaluated 80564 cases of Rohingya communities for summarizing the disease prevalence. Results: Acute respiratory infection associated cough & cold with no pneumonia was found in 35841 cases (44.49 %), Fever Unexplained > 101°F (38.5° C) in 12739 cases (15.81%), Diarrhea Others in 12003 cases (14.90%), Skin Diseases in 11562 cases (14.35%), acute watery Diarrhea in 4424 cases (5.49%) and other combined diseases account for 3995 cases (4.96%). Conclusion: It is certainly concluded that, various infectious diseases along with waterborne and vectorborne diseases were mostly affected children below 5 years and female above 5 years FDMN (Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals) due to unhygienic living environment, polluted air and lack of basic needs.