Haiti - Health - ALERT : At least 50 dead, cholera epidemic ?

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Haiti - Health - ALERT : At least 50 dead, cholera epidemic ?
21/10/2010 11:23:25

At least 50 people died of diarrhea, vomiting and high fever and hundreds were hospitalized in the Artibonite region alone over the past two days, many are in the hospital in the town of Saint-Marc.

Communities most affected are Saint-Marc and Marchand Dessalines. The disease has spread in the Plateau Central where 8 are dead already identified. The situation is worrisome, some victims had no symptoms 24 to 48 hours before his death, said a Haitian medical source who requested anonymity. Residents, fearing an epidemic, and call on officials of the Ministry of Health to urgently intervene. Several other people were admitted to the hospital quickly after contracting the disease.

While in Saint-Marc, Youri Latortue, the Senator of the Artibonite, said that six deaths were recorded in 150 cases received at the hospital Saint-Nicolas. In the communities where the effect of contagion appears in an accelerated way, a true panic settles.

Health authorities still do not know the cause of these deaths. A team of epidemiologists from the Department of Public Health and Population (MSPP), dispatched in Bas-Artibonite, analyze samples taken from several patients to identify the causative agent of this mysterious epidemic. Cuban doctors also carry out tests at the Diagnostic Center of Mirbalais. The symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea and high fever raises fears of a possible cholera epidemic. Results will be announced once they are ready, informed the Minister Alex Larsen, the head of MSPP, will want reassuring and claims to have drug and human resources necessary to cope with this situation.

Pending test results, the Ministry of Public Health recommends the application of rules of hygiene to the people of the Artibonite and Plateau Central, home where all cases of contamination have been reported so far (water treatment intended for consumption, washing hands with soap and running water, good cooking and use chlorinated water to clean vegetables and fruits).

S/ HaitiLibre