Flooding can potentially increase the spread of infectious diseases. To enhance good understanding of the health consequences of flooding and facilitate planning for mitigation strategies, deeper consideration of the relationship between flooding and out-break of infectious diseases is required. This paper examines the relationship between occurrence of floods in Kenya and outbreak of infectious diseases and possible interventions. This review intended to build up the quality and comprehensiveness of evidence on infectious diseases arising after flooding incidence in Kenya. An extensive literature review was conducted in 2017, and published literature from 2000 to 2017 was retrieved. This review suggests that infectious disease outbreaks such as waterborne, rodent-borne, and vector-borne diseases have been associated with flooding in Kenya. But there is need for more good quality epidemiological data to cement the evidence. Comprehensive surveillance and risk assessment, early warning systems, emergency planning, and well-coordinated collaborations are essential in reducing future vulnerability to infectious diseases following flooding.

Purpose Mombasa City in Kenya is one of the most vulnerable towns to flood risk due to its low-lying coastal location. Those at the highest risk in the city are households living in the flood-prone informal settlements. However, little is known about the perception of these vulnerable households to the flood risks and its health impacts, which is important for developing effective long-term adaptation strategies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the general perception of the residents regarding flood risks, its impact on their health and their adaptation strategies. Design/methodology/approach This study surveyed 390 randomly selected households in three informal settlements in the city of Mombasa using a semi-structured questionnaire. This was supplemented with six focus group discussions (FDGs) and six key informant interviews (KIIs). Findings The majority of respondent households perceive future flooding as high risk or severe with high negative health impact. Despite this, many do not evacuate their homes because they do not have alternative places to move to. Flooding was indicated to have had a negative physical and mental health impact on members of households. Although majority of households had taken some adaptation measures, most of these were short term, mainly due to financial constraints, lack of knowledge and government support. Perception of flood risk and gender were found to have a strong influence on taking long-term adaptation measures at the household level. Practical implications Reducing flood risk and averting its health consequences in flood-prone informal settlements require empowering and supporting those living in these areas with ability to initiate long-term adaptation measures and creating awareness about future risks. Originality/value This study provides evidence about how residents of flood-prone informal settlements perceive flood risk and how the exposures to perennial flooding impact their health. The paper augments existing knowledge of flood risk in poor urban neighborhoods of developing countries.

Floods have serious consequences on community well-being and health. This study was intended to address the health vulnerability of households in flood prone informal settlements in the coastal city of Mombasa in Kenya and their adaptation measures. Mombasa City has a history of floods, in the recent past, significant severe incidences of flooding events have already been experienced. However, there is dearth of evidence regarding vulnerability of households living in informal settlements in the city to the health risks of flooding and households' coping mechanisms. The study participants were randomly drawn from three purposively selected informal settlements in Mombasa City. Health vulnerability was assessed in terms of flood exposure, flood sensitivity, and flood adaptive capacity. While adaptation measures were explored based on the autonomous steps that household have adapted in response to flooding. Primary data were collected using questionnaires, Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions. The findings showed that up to 40.8% of the households had a high level of vulnerability, 46.9% had a medium level, while only 12.3% had low level of vulnerability. The findings also showed that household characteristics, water, sanitation and environmental risk factors had an impact on the level of household vulnerability. As coping mechanisms, households had taken some adaptation measures like clearing trenches to unblock drainage channels and piling sand bags around the house. The study concludes that for poor people living in flood prone areas in urban setting, flood early warnings, flood preventive actions and long term mitigation strategies need to be strengthened since they are exposed to greater health problems. The findings of the study are expected to help communities and local support agencies to identify weaknesses, especially in adaptive capacities, and to indicate ways of reducing future health vulnerability of residents of informal settlements to flooding.

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