Gastro another threat after dengue
By SYED JAFAR ASKARI October 7, 2008 KARACHI - Gastroenteritis has become another threat for the citizens after dengue fever; as several cases of gastroenteritis has been reported in different hospitals of the interior Sindh .
The disease that can take the form of an epidemic is a common health problem during the summer season in many developing countries including Pakistan.
One Pakistani child dies of diarrhoea and chest infections every minute. Poor treatment of gastroenteritis kills 5 to 8 million people per year Worldwide, and is a leading cause of death among infants and children under 5. Outbreak of gastro in the metropolis can be dilemma for Sindh Health Department, which has already failed to gain control over dengue fever in the province.
Thousands of the people since January to date have been afflicted with gastro. Two hospitals of Rawalpindi, including Holy Family Hospital (HFH) and Rawalpindi General Hospital (RGH) alone have witnessed reports of over 3,000 cases of gastroenteritis by the mid of current year.
General Secretary Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Dr Samrina Hashmi, while talking to The Nation, said that gastro was very common in the interior Sindh while few cases of gastro had been reported in the megalopolis.
“Typhoid is on the rise in the City, which is also a waterborne disease like gastro. Waterborne diseases are common in the province due to the contaminated water being supplied to the people. To have clean water is a basic right of any citizen, while our government was not aware about the basic rights of the citizens.” She said.
Talking about the preventive measures against the disease, she said that washing hands with soap was one of the most effective measure against gastroenteritis. “Proper hand-washing is particularly important after defecation, after cleaning a child who has defecated, after disposing of a child’s stool, before preparing or handling food and before eating”, she further said.
She also advised the public not to eat raw food, except fruits and vegetables that may be peeled and eaten immediately.
“Food should be cooked until it is hot throughout; eat food while it is still hot, or reheat it thoroughly before eating. Breast-feeding of infants and young children should be promoted. Infants and children who are breast-fed have fewer episodes of diarrhoea or dysentery; when these do occur, they are less severe than in those who are not breast-fed. This protection is greatest in infants who are exclusively breast-fed until 4-6 months of age, but remains significant when breast-milk is given with other foods, even into the third year of life,” she maintained.
As per international organisations, working in the health sector, risk factors involve consumption of improperly prepared foods or contaminated water and travelling or residing in areas of poor sanitation.
Globally, gastroenteritis caused 4.6 million deaths among children alone in 1980, mostly in the third world.
Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine estimates the current total figure to be 2.4 to 2.9 million per year. The global death rate has now come down significantly to approximately 1.5 million deaths annually, largely due to global introduction of proper oral re-hydration therapy. The incidence in the developed countries is as high as 1-2.5 cases per child per year and a major cause of hospitalisation in this age group.