REPORTS
The most direct and obvious results of famine are severe undernutrition and
death. While longitudinal studies have demonstrated that undernourished
persons -- particularly children -- are at higher risk of mortality, the
immediate cause of death is usually a communicable disease. Malnutrition
causes an increased case-fatality ratio (CFR) in the most common childhood
communicable diseases (i.e., measles, diarrheal disease, malaria, and acute
respiratory infections (ARIs)). Those at highest risk of mortality during
nonfamine times -- namely, the poor, the elderly, women, and young children
-- are the same groups most at risk for the morbidity and mortality caused by
famine. In addition, the movement of populations into crowded and unsanitary
camps, the violence associated with forced migrations, and the negative
psychological effects of fear, uncertainty, and dependency contribute to the
health problems experienced by displaced persons.
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