(Bloomberg) -- Hurricanes Irma and Maria killed five people in the U.S. Virgin Islands in September 2017, according to official tallies. But a new American Journal of Public Health study says the number of fatalities is likely much higher.

The poor health care system in the Caribbean islands necessitated that nearly 800 patients be evacuated after the storms at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars each. The AJPH research team notes that 49 evacuated patients have since died and 500 are still receiving care off-island. The actual number of storm-related deaths is possibly several hundred, according to the study.

“There is general agreement that the U.S. failed to provide aggressive, post-hurricane support in Puerto Rico,” says Dr. Glenn Morris, who is the study’s corresponding author and a professor of infectious diseases in University of Florida’s College of Medicine. “But what our paper does is document for the first time that this was a huge problem in the U.S. Virgin Islands too.”

The report also highlights the risks travelers face when visiting areas hit by natural disasters -- even years later.

Long-term effects

  • Two months after the hurricanes, hospital staff noted a spike in asthma and respiratory related illnesses, which is consistent with other studies documenting an increase in airborne mold after urban flooding disasters.
  • Patients with diabetes had elevated risks for the three months post-hurricane compared to the time before the storms.
  • For patients with chronic conditions, losing continual access to care or support networks, resulted in a spike of emergency room visits after the hurricanes.

Total visitors for 12 months in fiscal year 2018 was 1,561,993 compared to the 2,317,087 who visited the islands during the same period in the fiscal year 2017, a loss of 32.6%, according to the USVI Bureau of Economic Research.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released prototype economic statistics for the nearby island of Puerto Rico which found the 2017 Hurricanes which caused catastrophic damage and restricted residents’ health care there well.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sarah McGregor at smcgregor5@bloomberg.net, Anita Sharpe, Vince Golle

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