Acute watery diarrhea kills 12 in Sudan last week :report
January 24, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Twelve people have died and 500 infected with watery diarrhea in the states of Khartoum, Red Sea and Gedaref during last week, said a report by the independent Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD)
The field report, which was seen by Sudan Tribune on Tuesday, accuses health authorities in the states of concealing and covering-up the lab results of samples taken from the patients, describing this behavior as “irresponsible and reckless”.
It is noteworthy that the CCSD issued a report on 16 January disclosing that 8 people have died and 342 infected at several Sudanese states in a second wave of a suspected cholera outbreak within five months.
The new report said that the field monitoring revealed 12 new deaths and more than 500 infections within last week, saying the infections took place mainly in the states of Khartoum, Red Sea and Gedaref.
According to the report, 5 people have died and 100 were infected in the locality of Galabat in the Gedaref state, stressing the health authorities have shut down the markets and the schools due to lack of medical services.
It pointed out the average child infections have reached 20 cases daily in Port Sudan Children’s Hospital, saying there currently more than 100 inpatients in the hospital.
The report added that the average daily admissions at Port Sudan Teaching Hospitals reached 15 cases, saying that 3 people have died during the past few days.
According to the report, health authorities in Khartoum state have shut down restaurants and cafeterias at the Central Market for ten days following the increasing numbers of acute watery diarrhea infections among the residents.
The report pointed that the average admissions at Ibrahim Malik Hospital in Khartoum reached 20 cases, saying they are mostly from the Central Market area south of Khartoum.
It added that the average admissions at Khartoum North Teaching Hospital reached 10 cases, saying that 2 people have died during the past few days and 21 inpatients are currently at the hospital.
The report further added that the average admissions at Al-ban Gadid Hospital in East Nile locality have reached 70 cases during the last week, pointing to the significant shortage of medicines and intravenous fluids besides the lack of safety and prevention measures.
The CCSD stressed that the health authorities didn’t take any real measures to curb the spread of the disease, saying the closure of market, shops and schools is not enough to counter the epidemic.
Last September, Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health acknowledged that 55 people have died and 2619 were infected in Blue Nile State by watery diarrhea caused by (E. coli) bacteria stressing that the epidemic was not cholera.
(ST)