Blue Nile counts more deaths by 'watery diarrhoea'
September 16 - 2016 ED DAMAZIN
A medical ward in Blue Nile, Sudan, where patients with watery
diarrhoea receive treatment (received through Radio Dabanga WhatsApp
on 15-09-2016)
A medical ward in Blue Nile, Sudan, where patients with watery
diarrhoea receive treatment (received through Radio Dabanga WhatsApp
on 15-09-2016)
The death toll in Blue Nile has risen to 17 people as a result of
acute watery diarrhoea. The federal Health Ministry reported the
increase of cases in Blue Nile, Kassala and River Nile. The first
samples of patients are being examined for cholera.
Medical sources said that the number of infected people is still not
known as hospitals and various state medical centres have been
receiving dozens of patients. This has made the hospital wards
overcrowded, while the majority of the infected have no beds or place
in the hospitals to stay.
Dr. Walid Mirein, the internal section medicine doctor at Ed Damazin
hospital, the capital of Blue Nile state, told Radio Dabanga that his
section has received 16 cases on Thursday alone. He said that the
death toll amounted to 7 patients. 34 have received treatment.
Mirein believes that the spread of the disease is larger in Roseires
locality, which is east of the state capital, than in Ed Damazin. The
doctor attributed the high prevalence of the disease to the
contamination of meat, vegetables and drinking water.
He praised the recent actions in his hospital to isolate the infected
in a special ward and task doctors and nurses with their care. “This
has helped to reduce the number of deaths. One person died in the past
four days.
“But the authorities should provide free medical examination of the
patients, and accelerate the diagnosis of the disease so as to contain
it.”
Death toll rises
The federal Health Ministry stated that the death toll has risen to 17
people. 416 people have been infected: at a rate of 1.2 per every
100,000 people. The disease broke out in the third week of August.
The ministry acknowledged in its statement that there is an increase
in diarrhoea incidences in the three states of Kassala, Blue Nile and
River Nile, but did not refer to the nature of the diarrhoea, nor
mentioned an outbreak of cholera.
A visit paid by the Undersecretary of the federal Ministry of Health,
Essam Eldin Mohamed Abdallah, to Blue Nile and Sennar on Wednesday,
resulted in his confirmation that the number of diarrhoea cases is
higher in Blue Nile than in Sennar. And so the efforts of the ministry
continue in Blue Nile, to control those cases, he said.
Meanwhile the state Minister of Health in Sennar, Mohamed Abdelgader
El Mamoun, said that the hospitals have received people from villages
in Sennar who suffer from an infection with watery diarrhoea. He did
not specify their number.
“Most patients are from Blue Nile,” he confirmed earlier reports.
Samples of the patients have been sent to be examined in Khartoum.
Earlier this week, tests conducted by the Health Ministry of Blue Nile
have proved that the watery diarrhoea disease is caused by bacteria.
'I hope the school holiday period will be extended to prevent the
disease from spreading.'
Bad health situation
Residents of Blue Nile have complained to Radio Dabanga about the
ambiguity of the health situation, as well as the conflicting medical
reports. They criticised the government's statements about the
disease, whether it is cholera or watery diarrhoea.
A listener explained that the deployment of medical teams and the
disinfection and chlorination of potable water have led to the
reduction of the mortality rate. “It has helped to control the
outbreak of infections.”
The listener hopes that the government authorities will extend the
school holiday period, in an attempt to further control the the
infections.
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