Region One sickness…
CHIEF Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Shamdeo Persaud said yesterday that the Ministry of Health is working with the Regional Administration to deal with the illness that has affected Region One (Barima/Waini).

He said the affliction is acute diarrhoeal disease (ADD) and, while it has been diagnosed, the causative agent or pathogen is still to be ascertained through the testing of samples.

Persaud said stool, blood and water from Region One have been taken to be tested.

He said the process has been completed locally at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory and the Ministry is in possession of the preliminary results.

However, Persaud was not in a position to disclose those findings as further tests have to be done at the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) for further testing.

He explained that ADD patients suffer from a sudden onset of frequent bowel movements and excrete watery stool, usually accompanied by vomiting and fever, triggered by a number of different agents.

Persaud pointed out that the patients are associated with mining or logging areas in the region, where little emphasis is placed on hygiene and environmental health.

The sanitation in the area is poor and this has caused water and food contamination, leading to the diarrhoeal disease,” he said.

INACCESSIBLE
Persaud said health care facilities are inaccessible in some areas and, as such, the condition of a person affected is dire by the time the individual arrives at a place to seek medical attention.

Region One has four health centres in the three sub-districts, including Mabaruma Hospital and Kumaka District Hospital in sub-district one; Port Kaituma Hospital in sub-district two and Matthews Ridge Hospital in sub-district three.

However, the CMO said, although there have been deaths, other persons were treated, rehydrated and educated on prevention of complications.

Persaud said Region One has been exposed to intense public awareness in the three weeks that health teams have visited there.

But their work is continuing through community health workers and will extend to schools, which reopen today, in an effort to contain the sickness.

Among the recommended preventatives that can be employed to battle the affliction are:

* observing good personal hygiene, like washing hands frequently, especially before eating or preparing food and after defecation;

* ensuing that drinking water is purified before consumption and

* observing good food hygiene, through avoiding consumption of raw food, especially for high risk persons like the elderly, children and pregnant women.

Persaud pledged that the Ministry will continue to support the Region.