00:03In the stifling heat, the discomfort 19-month-old Retaj is feeling boils over.
00:11Her tiny body is covered from head to toe in painful chicken pox lesions,
00:15and efforts to keep her cool provide little relief.
00:21Retaj's sister, Talla, less than a month old, also has the disease.
00:27At night they do not sleep because of itching, says the girl's grandmother.
00:31And they are not alone, with more than 9,000 reported cases in the crowded tent camps of southern Gaza.
00:39This tiny baby in the paediatric ward of Nasser Hospital is also battling the disease.
00:45Nowadays the chicken pox is widespread among the babies and adults in Gaza.
00:51The intense heat, close living quarters, lack of clean water and a non-existent vaccination program
00:58cited as drivers of the outbreak.
01:00The vaccine against the virus is not available in Gaza,
01:04and the low immunity among the people in Gaza,
01:07these factors predispose for more virulence and for more active virus.
01:12In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces agency responsible for aid deliveries in Gaza said,
01:18no requests have been submitted for the entry of vaccines,
01:20and that any such requests will be approved.
01:23The agency also said the amount of water provided to Gaza
01:26significantly exceeds the humanitarian threshold.
01:31Retaj Antala's grandmother says at home they washed two or three times a day.
01:36But in the camp, she says, we bathe the children once every two days.
01:42Little comfort for those trying to stay clean and stop the spread.
01:45.
