Health Matters

Written by Editor Saturday, 18 June 2011 12:30

News Articles - Health and Environment

Cholera – from Haiti to the Dominican Republic
Even though it is no longer making headlines, the cholera epidemic continues to be rife in Haiti. According to the international and tropical diseases department of the French health watchdog the InVS, “the peak of the epidemic appears to have been reached and the disease is moving to an endemic stage”. It also appears to be spreading to neighbouring countries.
The first suspected cases of this epidemic were reported in mid-October 2010. On 2 February 2011, the Haitian Public Health and Population Ministry reported more than 220,000 cases, including 4,334 deaths. More than 120,000 people were also hospitalised. As the Ministry points out, these figures are probably underestimates because of the difficulty of keeping records.
“It is likely that the epidemic could last for several months” the Haitian authorities continue. And with good reason. In recent weeks, new centres of infection have been reported in isolated rural areas. Incidence of the disease is also continuing to increase in certain regions of the country.
Observers are keeping an eye not just on Haiti but on neighbouring countries too. Cases of cholera have also been found in the Dominican Republic. “The first home-bred cases were identified on 19 November 2010”, the InVS reports.
Suspected cases have also been found in other countries such as Chile, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela … and even in the French West Indies and the United States, specifically Miami.
There are basic hygiene measures to help combat cholera. People are advised:
- to wash their hands several times a day with soap and water;
- to drink water only from sealed bottles;
- always to peel fruit and vegetables with a clean knife before cooking them;
- to avoid raw vegetables, seafood, ice cubes, ice creams and sorbets.

Avian flu – still a silent killer
The A H5N1 avian flu virus remains a real concern. Already, since 1 January 2011, the World Health Organisation has recorded 19 cases of infection, 10 of which have proved fatal!
Egypt alone accounts for 22 cases, while Indonesia has recently recorded its fourth patient.
Since the start of the epidemic in 2003, Indonesia has been the country most affected, with 175 cases, 144 of which have resulted in death. This year, the authorities have recorded three deaths so far.
However, during the first quarter of 2011, it was Egypt that recorded the largest number of cases. Symptoms of avian flu have been recorded in 22 patients, six of whom have died.
Since 2003, globally avian flu has been the cause of 320 deaths out of the 549 cases in humans. This represents a mortality rate of no less than 60%!

Traumatic images of the
Japan disaster – what do we
tell our children?
Towns destroyed, distraught faces, coastlines swallowed up … Recent events have provided us with a wide range of shocking images.
News reports on Japan, Libya and the Ivory Coast are constantly on our screens. And that means all of us, including our children. Can such images be traumatizing for our children?
How can we protect them? Here are a few helpful tips:
Never leave your children alone in front of the television. If they find certain images disturbing, there is a chance that this could lead to trauma. And, if you find that your children are constantly acting out things that have affected them when they are playing or reproducing them in drawings, this means that they need to talk about them.
You can also help by explaining about the images they see, by talking to them about what they are looking at. Encourage them to ask questions. Children may well ask questions about death. They will also be quick to link what they see to their own world and ask whether such a thing could happen to them. Allow them to express their fears.
However, it is also very important to get back to normal life. Read them their bedtime story, do some cooking with them or any other activity that will give them reassurance and help them to think about other things.
Whatever the case, it’s best to avoid watching rolling news of this sort. As the name suggests, the same images will be constantly repeated.

Source: www.destinationsante.com