Haiti - Health : Mutation of the strain of cholera in Haiti...
In a study published by the leading public health agency in the U.S., two researchers Joan M. Brunkard and Deborah F. Talkington found that two strains isolated of cholera, collected on March 12 and 13 in the Artibonite region, are different from the strain "Ogawa" at the origin of the epidemic in Haiti in October 2010. They confirm that the two strains, are the classic type "Inaba", the other known strain of cholera. The researchers stress that this trend was expected and it has already occurred in other cholera epidemics in the world, but that the atter, shows no significant difference in the severity or duration of the infections.
However, the study mentions that the disease could be in a process of establishment permanently in the country, indicating that the cholera bacteria in Haiti, is transformed progressively, that people develop a certain immunity to the strain of origin.
The Pan American Health, warns that between 200.000 to 250.000 people may contract the disease this year in Haiti, the majority during the wet season which ends in early fall.
"The good news is that the vaccine against cholera, which is tested in Haiti provides protection against both versions of the bacterium," has informed Dr. Edward T. Ryan, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital [who has not participated in the study of the U.S. Agency].
