Cholera Outbreak in Haiti
At least 135 dead from disease outbreak in Haiti
ST. MARC, Haiti – An outbreak of severe diarrhea has killed at least 135 people in rural central Haiti and sickened hundreds more who overwhelmed a crowded hospital Thursday seeking treatment. Health workers suspected the disease is cholera, but were awaiting tests.
Hundreds of patients lay on blankets in a parking lot outside St. Nicholas hospital in the port city of St. Marc with IVs in their arms for rehydration. As rain began to fall in the afternoon, nurses rushed to carry them inside.
Doctors were testing for cholera, typhoid and other illnesses in the Caribbean nation's deadliest outbreak since a January earthquake that killed as many as 300,000 people.
Catherine Huck, deputy country director for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the Caribbean nation's health ministry had recorded 135 deaths and more than 1,000 infected people.
"What we know is that people have diarrhea, and they are vomiting, and (they) can go quickly if they are not seen in time," Huck said. She said doctors were still awaiting lab results to pinpoint the disease.
The president of the Haitian Medical Association, Claude Surena, said the cause appeared to be cholera, but added that had not been confirmed by the government.
"The concern is that it could go from one place to another place, and it could affect more people or move from one region to another one," he said.
Cholera is a waterborne bacterial infection spread through contaminated water. It causes severe diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to dehydration and death within hours. Treatment involves administering a salt and sugar-based rehydration serum.
The sick come from across the rural Artibonite region, which did not experience significant damage in the Jan. 12 quake but has absorbed thousands of refugees from the devastated capital 45 miles (70 kilometers) south of St. Marc.
Some patients said they drank water from a public canal, while others said they bought purified water. All complained of symptoms including fever, vomiting and severe diarrhea.
"I ran to the bathroom four times last night vomiting," said 70-year-old Belismene Jean Baptiste.
Trucks loaded with medical supplies including rehydration salts were to be sent from Port-au-Prince to the hospital, said Jessica DuPlessis, an OCHA spokeswoman. Doctors at the hospital said they also needed more personnel to handle the flood of patients.
Elyneth Tranckil was among dozens of relatives standing outside the hospital gate as new patients arrived near death.
"Police have blocked the entry to the hospital, so I can't get in to see my wife," Tranckil said.
Aid groups were mobilizing to ship medicine, water filtration units and other relief supplies to the Artibonite region.
"We have been afraid of this since the earthquake," said Robin Mahfood, president of Food for the Poor, which was preparing to airlift donations of antibiotics, oral dehydration salts and other supplies.
The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince issued an advisory urging people to drink only bottled or boiled water and eat only food that has been thoroughly cooked.
Re: Cholera Outbreak in Haiti
ANother report on the epidemic
Cholera epidemic in quake-hit Haiti, 135 dead
Posted: 22 October 2010 0553 hr
SAINT MARC, Haiti: A cholera epidemic in northern Haiti has claimed 135 lives and infected 1,500 people over the last few days, Claude Surena, president of the Haitian Medical Association, said on Thursday.
The epidemic has not yet reached the major displaced persons camps in and around the capital Port-au-Prince, which was ravaged by a 7.0 earthquake in January that left 1.2 million people homeless.
But officials fear an outbreak in densely populated tent cities that have poor sanitation and meagre medical facilities has the potential of unleashing a public health disaster.
"According to the results of the analysis carried out in the laboratory it is cholera," Surena confirmed to AFP of the outbreak in Saint Marc, about 100 kilometres north of the capital.
"Hospitals and medical centres in the region are overwhelmed and numerous deaths have been registered," said Gabriel Timothe, director general of the Haitian health ministry.
"There are several hundred people in hospital, and we are evacuating a number of the sick patients to other centres," he added.
Health officials contacted by AFP confirmed most of the deaths were along the Artibonite river that crosses the centre and north of the country.
Doctors earlier said 26 deaths had been registered and more than 400 people hospitalised, but the figures continued to rise throughout the day.
Across the most affected region of Artibonite, some 80 deaths have been counted so far, according to medical sources contacted by telephone.
In Saint Marc's Saint Nicolas hospital, confusion and fear gripped patients and their relatives on Thursday as many of the sick brought to the small facility were left on the floor because all the beds were taken.
Edner Philemon, 22, told AFP at the Saint Nicolas hospital he was feeling very weak due to losing so much weight in two days, saying he was also "mourning the loss of three family members from diarrhoea in a matter of hours."
"We're facing an outbreak of diarrhoea... which causes rapid death of patients of all ages. This has to do with the quality of water in the affected communities," said doctor Jean-Robert Pierre-Louis.
Haiti is still struggling to rebuild after the devastating quake that killed some 250,000 people, and left hundreds of thousands of people crammed into the makeshift tent cities throughout the ruined capital.
Many survivors had fled the city to live with relatives in other towns across the impoverished Caribbean nation of about nine million people, the poorest country in the Americas.
Aid agencies have voiced fears for months that any outbreak of disease could spread rapidly due to the unsanitary conditions in the camps where people have little access to clean water.
International agencies have swung into action, mobilising medical personnel to try to contain the spread of the disease and treat the sick.
"We are evaluating the situation on the ground with the international partners and the Haitian health authorities," said Fanny Devoucoux from the French aid organisation Acted.
Cholera is caused by a comma-shaped bacterium called Vibrio cholerae, transmitted through water or food that has typically been contaminated by human faecal matter.
It causes serious diarrhoea and vomiting, leading to dehydration. It is easily treatable by rehydration and antibiotics. But with a short incubation period, it can be fatal if not treated in time.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says on its website that "cholera is an extremely virulent disease. It affects both children and adults and can kill within hours."
"The short incubation period of two hours to five days, enhances the potentially explosive pattern of outbreaks," it added.
The impoverished Caribbean nation has also been hit in recent days by severe flooding adding to the misery of those struggling to survive in the scores of tent cities now dotting the country.
Pandemic cholera last stalked the world in the 1960s, although the disease still erupts among refugees or in war zones where sanitation and medical infrastructure have broken down.
An outbreak that began in Peru in 1991 and moved through South America, caused more than 1.1 million cases until 1994, including more than 10,500 deaths, according to WHO figures.
There are an estimated three to five million cholera cases every year, with about 100,000 to 120,000 deaths.
Re: Cholera Outbreak in Haiti
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bentwire
At least 135 dead from disease outbreak in Haiti
ST. MARC, Haiti – An outbreak of severe diarrhea has killed at least 135 people in rural central Haiti and sickened hundreds more who overwhelmed a crowded hospital Thursday seeking treatment. Health workers suspected the disease is cholera, but were awaiting tests.
Hundreds of patients lay on blankets in a parking lot outside St. Nicholas hospital in the port city of St. Marc with IVs in their arms for rehydration. As rain began to fall in the afternoon, nurses rushed to carry them inside.
Doctors were testing for cholera, typhoid and other illnesses in the Caribbean nation's deadliest outbreak since a January earthquake that killed as many as 300,000 people.
Catherine Huck, deputy country director for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the Caribbean nation's health ministry had recorded 135 deaths and more than 1,000 infected people.
"What we know is that people have diarrhea, and they are vomiting, and (they) can go quickly if they are not seen in time," Huck said. She said doctors were still awaiting lab results to pinpoint the disease.
The president of the Haitian Medical Association, Claude Surena, said the cause appeared to be cholera, but added that had not been confirmed by the government.
"The concern is that it could go from one place to another place, and it could affect more people or move from one region to another one," he said.
Cholera is a waterborne bacterial infection spread through contaminated water. It causes severe diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to dehydration and death within hours. Treatment involves administering a salt and sugar-based rehydration serum.
The sick come from across the rural Artibonite region, which did not experience significant damage in the Jan. 12 quake but has absorbed thousands of refugees from the devastated capital 45 miles (70 kilometers) south of St. Marc.
Some patients said they drank water from a public canal, while others said they bought purified water. All complained of symptoms including fever, vomiting and severe diarrhea.
"I ran to the bathroom four times last night vomiting," said 70-year-old Belismene Jean Baptiste.
Trucks loaded with medical supplies including rehydration salts were to be sent from Port-au-Prince to the hospital, said Jessica DuPlessis, an OCHA spokeswoman. Doctors at the hospital said they also needed more personnel to handle the flood of patients.
Elyneth Tranckil was among dozens of relatives standing outside the hospital gate as new patients arrived near death.
"Police have blocked the entry to the hospital, so I can't get in to see my wife," Tranckil said.
Aid groups were mobilizing to ship medicine, water filtration units and other relief supplies to the Artibonite region.
"We have been afraid of this since the earthquake," said Robin Mahfood, president of Food for the Poor, which was preparing to airlift donations of antibiotics, oral dehydration salts and other supplies.
The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince issued an advisory urging people to drink only bottled or boiled water and eat only food that has been thoroughly cooked.
Wondered where you have been, good to see you back. Deer hunting season and all I hope to top that buck of yours but unlikely. :wink:
Re: Cholera Outbreak in Haiti
I have been pretty busy with the farm and work also have restored a 1978 Honda 550K motorcycle i traded to let a guy cut a few ricks of firewood, it has turned out real nice
I am not really a honda fan but it was somthing to do in the shop and kinda used it as a project with my kid,, yes Bow season is in full gear and i soon will be setting in a tree stand wasteing away the early mornings and late eveings looking for that large buck to challenge my skill
Re: Cholera Outbreak in Haiti
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bentwire
I have been pretty busy with the farm and work also have restored a 1978 Honda 550K motorcycle i traded to let a guy cut a few ricks of firewood, it has turned out real nice
I am not really a honda fan but it was somthing to do in the shop and kinda used it as a project with my kid,, yes Bow season is in full gear and i soon will be setting in a tree stand wasteing away the early mornings and late eveings looking for that large buck to challenge my skill
Gotta show you this Buck pics
http://f522.mail.yahoo.com/ya/downlo...Inbox&inline=1
http://f522.mail.yahoo.com/ya/downlo...Inbox&inline=1
http://f522.mail.yahoo.com/ya/downlo...Inbox&inline=1
http://f522.mail.yahoo.com/ya/downlo...Inbox&inline=1
Really something else
Re: Cholera Outbreak in Haiti
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mikelodge
pics not showing up for me
Re: Cholera Outbreak in Haiti
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bentwire
pics not showing up for me
I know I am struggling with the photos for some reason on my other computer which is Vista and a pain.
one more time
http://news.insearchofchicas.org/for...10019c1ebb.jpg
http://news.insearchofchicas.org/for...1002d8abde.jpg
Sorry they are not bigger but it isn't me I have the photo thing down.
