Gastro outbreak in Region One 80 reported cases confirmed – Dr Karen Cummings

By Shemuel Fanfair

The numbers in the gastroenteritis outbreak situation are continuing to climb. Junior Public Health Minister Dr Karen Cummings confirmed that the number of reported cases has risen to 80.

Dr Cummings, through Government Information Agency (GINA), said: “There is a technical team on the ground, assessing the situation and working to keep it under control.” This team, it has been said, “comprises one doctor, one Medex and one Environmental Health Officer.”

This newspaper was told that the outbreak is not necessarily from one community but from over “20 satellite communities” connected to the Baramita area in the North West District.

Speaking with Guyana Times on Wednesday evening, Public Health Minister Dr George Norton said health officials are having difficulty encouraging residents to take the ‘hydration solution.’ This is due to the fact that many have said they were not feeling dehydrated.

Dr Norton explained that though there was swift mobilisation, “healthcare givers” in the area seemed to believe they could manage the situation. “One of our first efforts was to send down a team immediately but the medics and the doctors on the ground [were] saying there’s no need for that, they have it under control,” Dr Norton said.

Though the number of cases has increased, Dr Norton feels that everything is being done to combat the issue. He stated, “I personally would think so… any death is one too many. I still think that it is not a situation that we had in the years gone by… five hundred and something were infected where a large number of children died.

Efforts were made to keep the media out. No, we own up to the fact that the outbreak was there but we have it under control.

We are sending up the Regional Health Officer tomorrow… not necessarily Baramita alone but in other areas,” the Public Health Minister stated.

Former health minister and Opposition MP Dr Bheri Ramsarran called for two resident doctors to be stationed in Baramita. “There are many doctors who are trained, some should be deployed out of Georgetown to go urgently to deal with that problem,” he related on Wednesday.

Some symptoms of gastroenteritis include fever, vomiting and diarrhoea and abdominal pain.

This year’s outbreak has already taken the life of one child.

Dr Norton had earlier revealed to Guyana Times that he was aware of five new cases and that they are being monitored and are “coping well.”

“We are in communication with our health officers there on the ground including the doctor, the medic, the environmental officer,” Dr Norton had stressed.