00:00In Gaza's collapsing health system, a silent disease is taking hold.
00:05Guillain-Barre syndrome, or GPS.
00:08It turns the body's immune system against the nerves,
00:11leaving patients weak, paralyzed, and often unable to breathe.
00:16For Oda Masoud, life has become a struggle.
00:19His wife's body has shut down, leaving her trapped and voiceless.
00:23I carry my wife and take her to the bathroom.
00:26My wife does not walk.
00:28She is sick, and if the disease spreads further through her body,
00:31it can reach her lungs, and this disease can kill her.
00:36Doctors say they are seeing more cases among young people,
00:40conditions that could be treated anywhere else in the world.
00:44Both the WHO and the Gaza Ministry of Health confirm a growing number of cases here.
00:49The first cause is pollution due to bad sanitation in Gaza,
00:54due to destruction of the sanitation system from the occupational forces during this war.
01:01This is the first.
01:02Second, due to malnutrition, there is hypovitaminosis,
01:07lack of vitamin B1 and B6 and B12.
01:11For many, paralysis begins in the legs, then the arms,
01:15and can reach the chest, making it hard to breathe.
01:17For 25-year-old Mohamed al-Masri, it started with a stomach pain and diarrhea,
01:23before he suddenly lost the ability to walk.
01:25I had stomach pain, then my legs stopped moving.
01:30They told me I have GBS, but there is no treatment.
01:34I'm scared I will die.
01:36Without a treatment, patients can become fully paralyzed.
01:40The WHO confirms Gaza has no stock of the IVIG treatment,
01:45the only medicine that could save lives.
01:47Already three patients, including two children, have died.
01:52Every day, something stopped working.
01:54First, my legs, then the hands.
01:57Even breathing became difficult.
01:58As the bombs fall outside, an invisible battle is stealing Gaza young from within.
02:05Gallen-Burn syndrome is a disease that should not kill,
02:08is now leaving its victims powerless, paralyzed,
02:12and abandoned by a healthcare system and ruins.
02:16Hani Mahmoud al-Jazeera from Gaza City, Palestine.
02:21Right, to understand more about this disease,
02:24let's speak to Dr. Noor Sharaf,
02:25an emergency doctor who was in Gaza a month ago
02:28and saw cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome
02:30during her time working at Al Shaffer Hospital.
02:33Thank you for joining us.
02:34You're joining us now from Dallas in Texas.
02:37Dr. Noor, anyone with an autoimmune disease
02:40can attest to how life-changing it can be,
02:44but this one specifically sounds absolutely horrific and terrifying.
02:49There's no cure, I understand correctly.
02:51Can you explain to us, for someone who's not a doctor,
02:54to understand exactly what is it
02:56and how can malnutrition or famine lead to it exactly?
03:02Yeah, absolutely.
03:03Thank you for having me.
03:05So, like you mentioned, Guillain-Barre is an autoimmune condition,
03:10which that means that the body starts to attack itself.
03:15Specifically, the body attacks the nerves that affect the muscles of the body,
03:21and that can be very dangerous
03:23because it can lead those muscles to stop working.
03:27Guillain-Barre itself is just kind of this big category
03:31in which multiple other variations of the disease present,
03:35but the most common way that it will present is with weakness in the legs
03:41that will move up towards the body.
03:46And essentially, the most dangerous thing about Guillain-Barre
03:48is that it can affect the muscles that the body uses to breathe.
03:52And, you know, obviously, that can lead to death
03:57from people not breathing appropriately.
04:01And it can be caused by many things,
04:04but the most common cause for Guillain-Barre
04:07is consumption of contaminated food.
04:11Typically, it follows a period in which a patient
04:14will have eaten something that causes a diarrheal illness,
04:18and then one to two weeks later,
04:22they will develop the weakness in their legs
04:24that, again, goes up into their respiratory system as well
04:30and can stop them from breathing.
04:34There are two treatments available for Guillain-Barre
04:38that are used, IVIG and plasmapheresis,
04:42both which are not available right now in Gaza
04:46and are very difficult to obtain in general from anywhere
04:50in order to be able to even send them to Gaza.
04:53So it is something that requires international attention.
04:56I mean, it sounds absolutely horrific, Dr. Noor.
04:59And, of course, this just highlights
05:01the devastating causes of this man-made malnutrition and famine
05:06because it's not just Guillain-Barre, is it?
05:08There's been several outbreaks of infectious diseases in Gaza
05:12because of lack of water, sanitation, hygiene.
05:15Jean, during your time there, what are the cases,
05:19what are the sorts of cases that you were coming across?
05:23Yeah, absolutely.
05:24I think we need to remember that people in Gaza
05:26are currently living in very close quarters,
05:29and that was secondary for fourth displacement.
05:33So we have seen people get sick
05:36from just simply just being in very small areas near each other.
05:40So a lot of patients would come in with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.
05:45They're eating food that's contaminated.
05:47They don't have any type of refrigeration for the food
05:50that they're able to even cook at home.
05:53So that can lead to very high levels of contamination
05:56of the food that they're eating
05:57and result in these diarrheal or GI illnesses.
06:02We saw a lot of people with non-healing wounds.
06:05So a lot of the trauma patients that would come in with gunshots
06:09or burns or even shrapnel related from bomb injuries
06:13are not healing from the wounds that they develop
06:16because they don't have the proper nutrition in their body
06:19in order for their body to support the healing.
06:21It's a multifactorial process that, you know,
06:25all stems from lack of resources,
06:28whether that's lack of medication,
06:30whether that's lack of food
06:31or proper sanitary water for patients to drink,
06:34all of that is coming together
06:36and causing a huge deterioration
06:38in the health of the population of Gaza.
06:41And it's important to highlight
06:43that this wouldn't be happening, of course,
06:44if Israel wasn't carrying out this war
06:47with this blockade that it's imposed on Gaza,
06:49not just during the war, but before that.
06:51And when I talk about blockade,
06:52it's not just food or medicine
06:55because many of the doctors like yourself
06:58have been trying to go back
07:00and they're reporting now
07:01that they're being barred from entry.
07:04And certainly some of those
07:05that have been able to go in,
07:07sometimes they try and take baby formula
07:08just as a simple example,
07:10and that's being confiscated.
07:11Can you talk to us about the process
07:12of trying to get in to Gaza
07:14with Israel controlling all of those borders?
07:19Correct.
07:20The blockade of everything,
07:21the ability to enter pretty much anything
07:24into Gaza is truly devastating.
07:26People are being blocked from food,
07:30so it's forcing them to go
07:31to these aid distribution sites
07:33where they're being attacked.
07:34They're being blocked from access to clean water.
07:37And we as healthcare workers
07:40are being blocked entry into Gaza.
07:44So the process of going is a multi-step process.
07:47Once you apply through
07:49the World Health Organization,
07:51you are then approved to apply through COGAT,
07:55which is the Israeli side of the operation
07:58that has the final say
08:00as to whether or not
08:02any type of healthcare worker
08:04is able to enter into Gaza.
08:06Right now, the only types of healthcare workers
08:08that are even allowed to submit an application
08:11are physicians and nurses.
08:13So no respiratory therapists,
08:15no physical therapists,
08:17no nutritionists,
08:17and those are much needed individuals
08:19in this situation.
08:22Even physicians and nurses
08:24are being denied entry
08:27up to 24 hours before our trip.
08:30The only entry point right now
08:32in Gaza is through Amen Jordan.
08:34And once we arrive in Amen Jordan,
08:36we get the final approval
08:39to enter in Gaza about 24 hours before our trip.
08:42And, you know, that it is very devastating
08:47to see that as humanitarian,
08:50politically unaffiliated healthcare workers,
08:52we aren't able to go in
08:54and help the people who need it the most.
08:56And even myself, I was not denied entry,
08:59but I was denied the ability
09:00to bring in any type of medical supplies
09:03or any type of additional resources
09:06that would be able to help the patients there,
09:08which includes things like much needed medications.
09:11We talked about IVIG
09:12and how it's not available in Gaza,
09:14which includes things like resources.
09:17We were having to,
09:18while I was working at the hospital there,
09:20we were having to use items
09:24that were not necessarily indicated
09:25to be used in the situation
09:27that we were using them for,
09:29but we had no other choice.
09:32Right. Thank you.
09:32And I wasn't allowed to bring in tools.
09:35Dr. Noor Sharf,
09:36thank you very much
09:37for sharing your experience as a doctor
09:40and what you've had to face there in Gaza,
09:42an emergency doctor.
09:43You were in Gaza a month ago.
09:47Don't miss out,
09:49get the full picture.
09:50Subscribe to Al Xero for reliable news
09:53and expert insights.
09:55Like, share, stay ahead.
Comments