Seasonal flu spreads among children at displacement camps in Kayah State 

By DMG 29 May 2022

DMG Newsroom
29 May 2022, Loikaw, Kayah State 

Children are increasingly being infected with seasonal influenza in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kayah State, according to relief workers. 

There has been an outbreak of seasonal flu in the displacement camps since the third week of May, and at least 100 children from one IDP camp are currently infected, said a health worker assisting the IDPs. 

“The displaced people are diagnosed with seasonal flu because it is the rainy season. At least 100 children are currently infected with the disease. The number of infected people is likely to be much higher,” the health worker added. 

Seasonal flu is affecting not only children in IDP camps but also the elderly, the health worker said. 

Hobbling efforts to address the issue, however, traffic on the Demoso, Hpruso, Shadaw and Shan-Kayah border roads has variously been blocked by both Myanmar military and anti-regime forces.  

“The Myanmar military blocked a road along the Shan-Kayah border and the Demoso-Shadow road. The closure of the road made it difficult to deliver medicine to the IDP camps,” said an aid worker. 

The exact number of cases of seasonal influenza in Kayah State’s IDP camps is currently unknown. 

Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced by fighting in Kayah State since the military coup on February 1, 2021.