Boil water, add bleach to avoid gastro outbreaks
- Health Ministry advises
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, June 28, 2018
Rainy seasons in Guyana often bring outbreaks of gastroenteritis or diarrhoea mainly from people consuming untreated rain or tap water.
Therefore, the Ministry of Public Health has alerted the public to safe water treatment measures to prevent any outbreaks. People are advised to adopt water treatment measures whether it be boiling or adding portions of bleach to specified amounts of water. It is realised that in most cases, gastro has been detected in infants and children after they would have ingested unsafe, untreated water. Diarrhoea also manifests itself after the consumption of untreated water but while it can most times be present in children, it is also visible in people of all ages.
Community Health Workers in Region Nine offers a demonstration on how to treat unsafe water.
The ministry monitors these possibilities regionally through healthcare workers who offer demonstrations for treating water used for drinking and cooking. Additionally, in the event of an outbreak, a medical team will be deployed to bring the situation under control.
Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence has indicated that, thus far, for this rainy season she has not received reports of any gastro or diarrhoea outbreaks, however, she outlined that this is the season where the health system records an increase in cases.
“I have been told by the technical staff that during this rainy there is always some amount of diarrhoea or gastroenteritis around the country in various areas because of how they gather their water and it is always an ongoing exercise to teach those persons to boil the water before they use it.”
By: Delicia Haynes.
Image: Kennyann Bacchus.