Since most flu vaccines are made using virus grown in eggs, it could take up to six months to produce pandemic shots
Medics in Gaza said on Monday that they were working to step up screening of young children for severe malnutrition amid fears that hunger is spreading as people flee to new areas.
Aid group International Medical Corps (IMC) and partners are planning to reach more than 200,000 children under 5 years old as part of a 'Find and Treat' campaign, one of its doctors, Mumawwar Said, told Reuters by phone.
"With the displacement, communities are settling in new locations that do not have access to clean water, or there is not adequate access to food," he said. "We fear there are more cases being missed."
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
Over the weekend, families were already coming into an IMC clinic in the central city of Deir al-Balah, opened after the agency said it had to shut down two centres in the southern city of Rafah due to insecurity.
Five-year-old Jana Ayad had weighed just 9 kilograms when she arrived, suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting, Nutrition Officer Raghda Ibrahim Qeshta told Reuters as she carefully held the child.
"My daughter was dying in front of me," said Nasma Ayad as she sat next to the bed. "I didn't know what to do."
Jana had started putting on some weight after treatment, medics said, but she was still painfully thin with her ribs showing as she lay listlessly in her bunny pyjamas.
Staff can gauge nutrition levels by measuring the circumference of children's arms. During a Reuters cameraman's short visit at least two of the measurements were in the yellow band, indicating a risk of malnutrition.
A group of UN-led aid agencies estimates that around 7 per cent of Gazan children may be acutely malnourished, compared with 0.8 per cent before the Israel-Hamas conflict began on Oct. 7.
Until now the worst of severe hunger has been in the north, with a UN-backed report warning of imminent famine in March.
But aid workers worry it could spread to central and southern areas due to the upheaval around Rafah that has displaced more than 1 million people and constrained supply flows through southern corridors.
Israel launched its military operation in Gaza after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
In retaliation to Hamas' attack, Israel launched an air, ground and sea assault on the Palestinian territory, killing more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.
Israel says it has expanded efforts to facilitate aid flows into Gaza and blames international aid agencies for distribution problems inside the enclave.
ALSO READ:
Since most flu vaccines are made using virus grown in eggs, it could take up to six months to produce pandemic shots
Despite preventive measures such as collecting passports, obtaining affidavits, assigning cabin crew over the age of 50 on Canada flights, the airline has failed to foil such incidents
Violations of the Digital Services Act can result in fines of as much as 6% of a company's global turnover.
Country has made significant progress in improving its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime, the Paris-based body said
The war and Israel's blockade have caused a shortage of medicines and destroyed much of Gaza's medical capacity
Prolonged heatwave causes health crisis in India as more than100 dead and 40,000 heatstroke cases registered
More than 300 people have perished on the mountain since expeditions started in the 1920s, eight this season alone
Griffiths spoke as witnesses reported intense fighting in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, amid growing fears of a wider regional war