Oversvømmelserne i Thailand har indtil nu kostet 283 livet, mens mere end 2,3 mio. mennesker er påvirket. Regeringen i Bangkok har mobiliseret alle tilgængelige ressourcer for at undgå, at der opstår epidemier i kølvandet på vandmasserne.
BANGKOK, 13. October 2011 (IRIN): Aid workers in Thailand warn of possible water-borne disease outbreaks following weeks of heavy flooding.
“Water-borne disease is always a risk in a massive flood,” Matthew Cochrane, regional communications and advocacy manager for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told IRIN Thursday in Bangkok. “The situation needs to be constantly monitored.”
While there have been no reported outbreaks to date, the authorities and aid workers are not taking any chances.
The government has mobilized all available resources including the military, police and emergency services, while a medical team of doctors and sanitation experts from Medécins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been sent to the worst-hit provinces – Ayutthaya, Phitsanulok and Sukhothai – to conduct an assessment of the flood’s impact on sanitation facilities and people’s health.
“Until now, we have not identified the need to intervene. Local governments can give adequate response,” said Veronique Terrasse, MSF’s Asia regional communication officer.
Diarrhoea, dengue, leptospirosis (se forklaring neden for), typhoid (tyfus), malaria and skin infections are the most common water-borne diseases in flood-ravaged areas where people have poor access to clean water, food and sanitation, said Seeviga Saegtharatip, a communicable diseases specialist (i smitsomme sygdomme) at the Department of Disease Control at the Ministry of Public Health.
“Rescue teams have been sent to all flood-hit provinces to provide victims with basic medicines, trash bags and chlorine for purifying water,” Saegtharatip said. “Mobile clinics have also been set up to provide free medical services.”
Over 118.000 family kits have been distributed, along with 1,3 million bottles of drinking water by the Thai Red Cross.
Over two million affected
Læs videre på: http://irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93957
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Hvad er leptospirose?
Leptospirose er en akut bakteriesygdom hos mennesker forårsaget af såkaldte Leptospira. Det er en zoonose, det vil sige, at den overføres fra dyr til mennesker.
Hos mennesker kan den være mild og forbigående, men kan også have et mere alvorligt forløb. Sygdommen smitter først og fremmest gennem vand, som er forurenet med urin fra smittede dyr.
Af den grund ses sygdom først og fremmest hos personer, som arbejder med vand i landbrug eller bader i forurenet vand.
