Cholera epidemic in Haiti may exceed UN projections: Study
March 16th, 2011 - 12:40 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Mar.16 (ANI): The cholera epidemic in Haiti will exceed UN projections, reveals a new study conducted by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the Harvard Medical School.
The United Nations’ has estimated that there will be 400,000 cases of diarrhoeal disease over the course of the epidemic. But, the study, to be published in the journal Lancet, predicts that the number of cases may double and reach upto 779,000 between March and November this year.
“The epidemic is not likely to be short-term”, “It is going to be larger than predicted in terms of sheer numbers and will last far longer than the initial projections,” The Eureka Alert quoted UCSF medical resident Sanjay Basu, as saying.
Basu, who conducted the study with Jason Andrews, a former UCSF resident, said that three public health interventions must be used by the authorities to curtail the epidemic. People must be provided clean water, vaccination and proper antibiotics.
Analysis suggests that antibiotic treatment can be the most effective way to save thousands of lives in Haiti.
According to Basu, the high cost of the antibiotics makes it difficult to ensure its access to the people.
Earlier, no cases of cholera were registered in Haiti, but due to the devastating earthquake in 2010, the disease has emerged as a major epidemic.
Last year, between October and December nearly 150,000 people in Haiti suffered from cholera, and over 3,000 people had died. (ANI)
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- Haitian fear widespread epidemic as cholera outbreak death toll in Haiti surpasses 250 - Oct 25, 2010
- UN troops brought cholera to Haiti: report - Dec 08, 2010
- Aid for Haiti a priority as 600,000 still live in camps following quake - Oct 06, 2011
- Over 2,300 now dead from cholera in Haiti - Dec 14, 2010
- Haiti cholera toll rises to 2,591 - Dec 22, 2010
- Haiti's cholera strain came from South Asia: Study - Dec 11, 2010
- Over 2,700 dead in Haiti from cholera - Dec 28, 2010
- Haiti cholera toll rises to 2,535 - Dec 19, 2010
- Superbug doesn't pose health risk: Ministry - Apr 07, 2011
- Cholera Claims 196 Lives In Haiti, Death Toll May Rise - Oct 23, 2010
- 'No increase in drug resistance in cholera bacteria' - Apr 13, 2011
- Haiti cholera deaths top 1,500 - Nov 26, 2010
- Ghana cholera toll rises to 21 - Apr 19, 2012
- Cholera epidemic kills 11 in Ghana - Apr 05, 2012
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