A child is dead and 60 persons have had to seek medical attention for gastroenteritis-like symptoms at Baramita, Region One, but Public Minister Dr George Norton says the situation is “under control.”
Stabroek News was told by a regional official that a baby is the only fatality so far.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) said yesterday that the Ministry of Public Health is closely monitoring the community after several cases of vomiting and diarrhea were detected in the area. It said the symptoms have landed 60 persons at the Baramita Health Centre since they were detected late last month.
In 2013, there was a gastroenteritis outbreak in the North West District area, where a total of 529 residents from Port Kaituma and the surrounding communities were infected, with most of them being children. Three persons had died. There had previously been an outbreak in the area in 2009, when six persons died.
In June, 2013, President David Granger, who was then leader of the opposition, had successfully moved a motion in the National Assembly to set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the gastro-like illness in the North West District, in light of several outstanding questions, including how many children actually died. The inquiry was never set up by the then PPP/C-led government.
Baramita, which has a population of about 3000 and 20 satellite communities, has one Health Centre, which is manned by a Community Health worker, a medic and a doctor, GINA said.
It reported Norton as saying that while the situation is under control, the development is of great concern to the ministry and a team of officials will be deployed to the area to educate the residents about the illness and measures they can take to avoid it.
“We do have it under control, we have enough medication there…,” he said.
Norton, however, told GINA that there are some challenges in terms of getting into some of the satellite communities as they are only accessible by All Terrain vehicles.
He also noted that residents have been uncooperative.
“The other situation is we find that the population is not cooperating. They don’t want to use the bleach in the water or the tablets that we’re using in the water because they said, it tastes bad. Secondly, they’re not carrying through with the medications we’re giving them to use and they are not all attending the clinics, even though the clinics are there, available for them. So we’re running into some difficulties there. But the situation has improved from what it was from the beginning,” Norton was quoted as saying.
Norton added that while there has been the closing off of the media in the past, he wants to do it differently. “We want to be the first to let the media know that we are on top of the situation that has existed, not in Port Kaituma now, but in the village of Baramita,” he told GINA.
GINA said it was informed of the outbreak by Norton on Thursday evening.
