Diarrhea outbreak overwhelms health system in Moa

Diarrhea outbreak overwhelms health system in Moa

MOA, Cuba - June 16 (Juan Carlos Garcell, APLO / www.cubanet.org) - A
diarrhea outbreak, affecting mostly the very young and old, has
overwhelmed the available health facilities in Moa.

Last Thursday, Deysi Leiva walked out of the emergency room in the Pedro
Sota Alba pediatric hospital, where she had taken her two-year-old
daughter Dayrin for diarrhea, saying the medical facility was full of
mothers with children in the same condition.

The problems in Moa are aggravated by the arrival of the rainy season
and the lack of a reliable drinking water supply for the population.
Residents say boiling the water doesn't work very well in Moa, where the
water's mineral content is high and is concentrated even further by boiling.

Physicians Aldo Consuegra and Raima Diaz recommend raising the water's
temperature to just below boiling. Consuegra and Diaz said the often
patients are medicated to combat the diarrhea and later become
reinfected by the water.

Moa is one of the most highly polluted areas on the island, due mostly
to the presence of nickel processing plants.

http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y06/jun06/20e1.htm