There is an outbreak of a gastro-like illness – vomiting and diarrhoea – in the North West District, which has so far claimed the lives of two children, according to Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Shamdeo Persaud, who said that the presence of a high level of the E. coli bacteria in the water being used by residents might be the cause.
As a precaution there will a public awareness campaign dubbed ‘Safe Water’ alert to advise residents to boil water before use.
In a telephone interview with Stabroek News, Dr Persaud confirmed that two babies died as a result of severe dehydration. Relatives of the children—seven-month-old Steve Adams of Canal Bank and two-month-old Zashada Bumbury—while admitting that they were suffering from bouts of the illness, said that the negligence of the medical staff is to be blamed.
A post-mortem examination was done on one child but the father was told that the results will not be available for four months.
Bumbury died on February 15 while the older baby died last Monday.
Dr Persaud said the source of the illness is E. coli; the water health officials tested at Sebai has three times the level of the bacteria when compared to last year. He said a team was dispatched to the area and a second team is to be sent in this week.
He said the plan right now is to urge residents to use clean water and desist from using the water from rivers and streams. Residents are being told not to use the river water for any purpose since “it is severely contaminated”.
E. coli (abbreviated form of Escherichia coli) are rod-shaped members of the Coliform group, which is almost exclusively of faecal origin, and their presence gives an effective confirmation of faecal contamination.
Research has shown that the Coliform bacterial group is abundant in the faeces of warm-blooded animals and could also be found in aquatic environments, in soil and in vegetation. Coliforms are easily spread and their presence gives an indication that other pathogenic organisms of faecal origin may be present.
APNU parliamentarian Richard Allen expressed concern over the outbreak. According to him it all started about two weeks ago and mostly residents of Sebai, Canal Bank, Port Kaituma and the backdam areas are affected. The first set of symptoms started in Sebai, Allen said.
He said that a team from the Ministry of Health went into the area last Thursday and took water samples. He said too that an emergency supply of drugs was also flown into the area to help deal with the situation.
According to Allen, based on what he was told, the outbreak was caused by “some contamination of the water supply” and while he did not know how, it could be as a result of dredging in the Port Kaituma creek.
Residents of all the affected areas have access to water from that creek.
The NWD was hit by a similar outbreak about three years ago.
During the latter part of 2009, several residents, most of them from the Moruca area died from what the Health Ministry said was E. coli.
The outbreak was attributed to the manner in which persons in the area used water sourced from nearby rivers and creeks as well persons in outlying areas being reluctant to seek medical attention at hospitals in their area in a timely manner.
Among the persons who passed away as a result of the illness then were Moruca residents Calvin Charlie, 32; his mother, Helena Charlie, 63; pensioner Albert De La Cruz and a toddler, Troydon Thornhill. The Ministry of Health had disputed the cause of the deaths of De La Cruz and Thornhill, stating that the latter had a kidney problem which led to his death, while De La Cruz died after suffering a heart failure. There had also been several deaths at Port Kaituma, as well as cases of persons seeking treatment for the ailment at the Mabaruma District Hospital and at health facilities at Matthew’s Ridge in the Matarkai sub-region.
