http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/world/americas/23cholera.html
Cholera Reported in Several Areas in Haiti
The New York Times, By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr, October 22, 2010
A cholera outbreak in a rural area of northwestern Haiti has killed more
than 150 people and overwhelmed local hospitals with thousands of the sick,
the World Health Organization said Friday, increasing long-held fears of an
epidemic that could spread to the encampments that shelter more than a
million of Haitians displaced by the January earthquake.
Even as relief organizations rushed doctors and clean-water equipment toward
the epicenter ? the Artibonite, a riverine rice-producing area about three
hours north of the capital, Port-au-Prince ? Haitian radio reported that
cholera cases had surfaced in two other areas: the island of La Gon?ve, and
the town of Arcahaie, which lies closer to the capital. In addition, a
California-based aid group, International Medical Corps, said they had
confirmed cases in Croix-des-Bouquet.
Relief agencies had long feared a major outbreak of diarrheal diseases,
particularly among people living in crowded, unsanitary tent cities, and, as
in the case in Artibonite, drinking from rivers.
But the appearance of cholera ? which dehydrates and kills victims more
rapidly than most other diarrheas ? was a surprise. Haiti and the rest of
the Caribbean has not seen the vibrio cholerae bacteria, which lives in
human intestines, for at least 50 years.
Like most population centers in Haiti, Artibonite has absorbed thousands of
those displaced by the earthquake, which killed an estimated 200,000.
Television images showed hospital corridors, hallways and even parking lots
there filled with victims lying down, getting intravenous fluids as crowds
of screaming relatives were kept outside.
?People are all over on the floor,? Charles Henry Baker, a Haitian
presidential candidate, who appeared on Reuters TV after touring a hospital.
?We need help and we need quick help.?
Dr. Michel Thieren, senior program officer in Haiti for the Pan-American
Health Organization, a W.H.O. affiliate, said the best hope for minimizing
casualties was a public education campaign to tell people to drink only
clean water, and a bigger effort to get clean water to everyone.
Cholera has circled the globe in waves since it first appeared in India in
1816. It killed tens of millions of people during the 19th century, and the
globe is now in the grip of what is considered the seventh pandemic; a
strain presumed similar to the one in Haiti appeared in South America in
1991.
Victims can lose as much as 10 quarts of water a day through diarrhea and
die because their electrolytes get out of balance, causing a heart attack,
or their blood gets so thick that their organs shut down. It can be fought
by rehydrating victims with intravenous fluids and water with salts and
sugars. It can be headed off by trucking in clean water or huge filters that
can clean local water.
Cholera Reported in Several Areas in Haiti
The New York Times, By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr, October 22, 2010
A cholera outbreak in a rural area of northwestern Haiti has killed more
than 150 people and overwhelmed local hospitals with thousands of the sick,
the World Health Organization said Friday, increasing long-held fears of an
epidemic that could spread to the encampments that shelter more than a
million of Haitians displaced by the January earthquake.
Even as relief organizations rushed doctors and clean-water equipment toward
the epicenter ? the Artibonite, a riverine rice-producing area about three
hours north of the capital, Port-au-Prince ? Haitian radio reported that
cholera cases had surfaced in two other areas: the island of La Gon?ve, and
the town of Arcahaie, which lies closer to the capital. In addition, a
California-based aid group, International Medical Corps, said they had
confirmed cases in Croix-des-Bouquet.
Relief agencies had long feared a major outbreak of diarrheal diseases,
particularly among people living in crowded, unsanitary tent cities, and, as
in the case in Artibonite, drinking from rivers.
But the appearance of cholera ? which dehydrates and kills victims more
rapidly than most other diarrheas ? was a surprise. Haiti and the rest of
the Caribbean has not seen the vibrio cholerae bacteria, which lives in
human intestines, for at least 50 years.
Like most population centers in Haiti, Artibonite has absorbed thousands of
those displaced by the earthquake, which killed an estimated 200,000.
Television images showed hospital corridors, hallways and even parking lots
there filled with victims lying down, getting intravenous fluids as crowds
of screaming relatives were kept outside.
?People are all over on the floor,? Charles Henry Baker, a Haitian
presidential candidate, who appeared on Reuters TV after touring a hospital.
?We need help and we need quick help.?
Dr. Michel Thieren, senior program officer in Haiti for the Pan-American
Health Organization, a W.H.O. affiliate, said the best hope for minimizing
casualties was a public education campaign to tell people to drink only
clean water, and a bigger effort to get clean water to everyone.
Cholera has circled the globe in waves since it first appeared in India in
1816. It killed tens of millions of people during the 19th century, and the
globe is now in the grip of what is considered the seventh pandemic; a
strain presumed similar to the one in Haiti appeared in South America in
1991.
Victims can lose as much as 10 quarts of water a day through diarrhea and
die because their electrolytes get out of balance, causing a heart attack,
or their blood gets so thick that their organs shut down. It can be fought
by rehydrating victims with intravenous fluids and water with salts and
sugars. It can be headed off by trucking in clean water or huge filters that
can clean local water.
