Unexpectedly low Incidence of COVID-19 among Refugees of War from Ukraine to Slovakia in First Month of Conflict (Original Research)

Abstract

Several armed conflicts and military troop interventions have been associated with minor pandemics, however, not always, and with the extent varied. e.g. during the most catastrophic loss of lives in the Bosnian Conflict in 1993-95 where 160,000 civilians and soldiers fell into mass graves, only one small epidemic of Hepatitis A was reported to the European branch of WHO. In contrast, epidemics of cholera in Haiti, not related to war but associated with troop deployment (UN battalion from Nepal) in 2014, led to a devastating epidemic of cholera in the Artibonite River District with 1,000s of deaths. The same was reported during civil war and genocide in Rwanda in 1988-98 where hundreds died, and refugees of war-related exodus from Rwanda to the DRC in Goma. Finally, pipeline and water supply devastation during war in Yemen, led to the largest cholera outbreak in Yemen (1-3). Therefore, fear of epidemics, especially during COVID-19 Omicron wave is of concern mainly when the numbers of positive cases in Austria and other EU countries are increasing. The aim of this study was to report the results of COVID-19 antigen testing in those escaping from war in Ukraine.