Disaster vulnerability, displacement, and infectious disease: Nicaragua and Hurricane Mitch

Research conducted among socially vulnerable populations caught in the paths of natural disasters represents the forefront of our understanding the health-related impacts of climate change. In this study, we analyze individual-level longitudinal data from the Nicaragua Living Standards and Measurement Survey (N = 3474) in order to ascertain the influence of disaster displacement arising from the Hurricane Mitch event upon two communicable disease outcomes: diarrheal disease and respiratory disease. First, multinomial logistic regression analyses demonstrate that individuals from households headed by women, as well as from households with low levels of consumption expenditures, experienced greater odds of displacement to shelters in the aftermath of Mitch. Second, two-way fixed-effects regression analysis demonstrates that shelter displacement acts as independent risk increasing the odds of respiratory disease, net of socioeconomic and demographic covariates. Our findings draw attention to the confluence of far-reaching entrenched social and economic disparities that create linked disaster displacement and communicable disease vulnerabilities.