Georgetown : The Ministry of Health has been monitoring reports an outbreak of gastroenteritis in the North West District, Region One and has taken aggressive steps to address the emerging situation.
According to a Government release, Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran said the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Shamdeo Persaud was instructed to look into the matter and he has effectively done that using the established methods and network of epidemiologists, doctors, nurses and community workers while at the same time working with non-Ministry of Health agencies which are just as important to the multi-sectoral approach to such as outbreak.
The Ministry is also extending its hand to the Ministry of Education, Guyana Defence Force and other groups in this effort.
Dr. Persaud noted that the reported cases were observed through the surveillance information which is collected on a weekly basis. That report indicated that there were increases from since the second week of January where at least one child died due to severe dehydration.
Dr. Persaud explained that a post mortem was done on that child and some samples were taken, and at the same time the Ministry dispatched a preliminary team including persons from the Regional Health Services, Surveillance Unit, and local Environmental Health Officers, and Regional Health Officer.
A second team was dispatched on Friday morning including newly appointed epidemiologist, Dr. Morris Edwards who is tasked with assessing the situation further. Once the source of the contamination has been identified efforts will focus on addressing that with support from the Regional Administration.
The team has been encouraging steps such as boiling of water and using bleach in water for house hold purposes. Subsequently, a second child presented with severe dehydration also succumbed, however the investigation of the samples are still being conducted to determine what strain of bacteria is causing the illness. Other people in the community have also reported cases of diarrhoea.
