ARTICLE - CHOLERA DEATHS INCREASE

16,799 CASES DECLARED, 1,034 DEATHS, THE RIPOSTE INTENSIFIES
(HaitiLibre.com)

The cholera outbreak continues to spread. "We have cases in all departments", said yesterday Nigel Fisher, coordinator of the humanitarian action for the United Nations in Haiti, "although the Haitian authorities this weekend said that only six of the ten departments have been affected by the disease" stressing that "According to epidemiologists, the number of cases will increase significantly".

Assessment at the national level:

The latest assessment (cumulative) dated of Sunday, November 14, 2010 and published today Tuesday by the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) reported 16.799 hospitalization since the beginning of the epidemic, either 2.157 additional cases moreover of the last official assessment of November 12 (+14.73%) and 1.034 death either 117 new additional deaths (+12.75%).

Port au Prince and metropolitan area:

In Port-au-Prince and metropolitan area, (Port-au-Prince: Carrefour, Cité Soleil, Delmas, Kenscoff, Pétion-Ville, Port-au-Prince, Tabarre and Croix des Bouquets) it reported 875 hospitalization since the first reported case in this area, either 268 cases moreover of the last assessment (Nov.12) (+44%) and 38 deaths, either 11 new additional deaths (+40.74%).

Note: Comparisons are made between the assessment of November 12 and 14 November, 2010.

Official figures incorporate data submitted by departments to the Department of Epidemiology and now include the cases reported by NGOs and the Cuban medical mission.

More than 70 organizations involved against the cholera outbreak in Haiti, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Medecins Sans Frontier (MSF), Medina du Monde (MDM-Spain), Merlin, International Medical Corps Partners in Health (PIH), Save the Children, as well as UN agencies and bilateral agencies. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and World Health Organization (WHO) coordinates the Health Group.

The MSPP developed a national strategy to fight against the cholera epidemic. It aims to protect families at the community level, strengthening primary care centers already operational across the country.

Currently, services for cholera are organized into three levels:

1. CHOLERA TREATMENT CENTRE (CTC) - independent large tents with a capacity of 100-400 beds (Currently 1.000 beds for the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince);

2. CHOLERA TREATMENT UNIT (CTU) - located in a health facility or in close proximity and have a lesser capacity than CTC (usually 15 to 20 beds) and

3. ORAL REHYDRATION CENTRE (CRO) - located 300 across the country, who are treating patients whose prognosis is not severe.

The UTC are designed to enable hospitals and health centers continue to function normally, while providing care for cases of cholera. They ensure that institutions not be exceeded by the influx of patients and ensure that patients who have not yet cholera can be treated.

The need to establish the UTC has emerged with the experience of Saint-Marc, where health facilities were quickly overwhelmed by the influx of cases of cholera.

The humanitarians think that the UTC and the centers of rehydration will be the entrance point for the patients presenting severe watery diarrhea. Either they stabilize their condition and will return home or they will transfer to the CTC for a more complete treatment.

Departments in the Northwest, North and Northeast have received kits containing sufficient medicines and supplies to treat 60,000 people for a month. PAHO/WHO coordinated action with MSPP to provide sufficient quantities of ORS in Gros Morne, Bassin-bleu and Port-de-Paix, in the Artibonite and Northwest.

The partners are organizing a system for collecting excreta in the CTC and UTC. There will be also a staff training to the fight against infections in the CTC and UTC. They give instructions on disinfection, based on WHO guidelines.