Monday 25 October 2010

Crowded conditions and poor sanitation in Haiti means cholera could spread with terrifying speed

Although the number of child casualties is still unclear, children – especially toddlers and babies – are most vulnerable to the deadly bacteria, which can kill an adult in three hours if not treated.

Many children here are also malnourished, which makes them even more susceptible to the disease.

Lisa Laumann, Save the Children’s Program Director in Haiti, says: “Cholera kills by completely draining the body of fluids and nutrients, which means victims can die extremely fast from dehydration and exhaustion.

“Children are small and not as strong as adults, and their bodies contain less fluid, which means the disease can kill them very fast. "It’s actually very simple to stop a child dying from cholera – a simple course of oral rehydration salts can bring them back to full health. But that treatment has to be administered fast.”

Ramping up our response to cholera

Children are also at heightened risk because their parents – used to their children suffering from diarrhoea – may not recognize the illness as something that needs urgent treatment, especially as cholera has not been a problem in Haiti since the 1960s.

We're ramping up our response to the cholera threat by sending teams of hygiene workers into camps to make sure families know what signs to look for and how to protect themselves against the disease.

Cholera is spread by contaminated water, and aid workers are ensuring families know to wash their hands thoroughly with soap and only drink and cook with clean water.

Lisa Laumann continued: “The conditions in many of the camps here are still squalid, with hundreds of families living in very close proximity and rubbish strewn around the tents. "In some of the most remote temporary camps, families aren’t able to get to the water sources installed by aid agencies.

“And of course, children living in the camps like to play. It’s the rainy season and if they see a puddle, they often want to jump in it, or wash their hands. But these innocent games could become lethal if the cholera does spread to the city.

“Parents I’ve spoken to here are scared. They have heard the news of the deaths 70 miles north of Port au Prince, and are terrified their children will also fall ill.

"That’s why it’s so important that we accelerate our emergency response, particularly making sure that mothers - who often do the cooking food and make sure children keep clean–know what the dangers are. Surveillance is paramount in the fight to stop this disease spreading.”

Protecting new-borns from the threat

Most people who contract cholera can recover if they are given enough fluid and nutrients to rehydrate them in time. We have more than 800 staff on the ground responding to the Haiti earthquake in Port au Prince, Jacmel and the earthquake epicentre, Leogane.

Our health teams are working to prevent cholera spreading by stocking our mobile health clinics with life-saving rehydration salts and doing hygiene education in the camps where we are working.

We are also helping to protect newborn babies from the disease, with teams of specialists helping new mums to breastfeed rather than feed their babies powdered milk that they have to mix with water.

We have been delivering life-saving aid since the earthquake hit in January, providing healthcare to more than 120,000 people and helping more than 200,000 get access to clean water and live in more sanitary conditions, by building proper toilets and installing clean water points.

Gareth Owen, Save the Children’s Director of Emergencies, says: “A cholera outbreak could be devastating in Haiti where more than a million people are still living packed together in temporary camps around Port-au-Prince.

"The disease is spread by unclean water and the crowded conditions and poor sanitation in Haiti means the killer disease could spread with terrifying speed.

“It is now the job of the humanitarian community to support Haitian authorities in containing the disease as quickly as possible, getting treatment to those who are affected and crucially, providing health information to families that can save their lives.

"We must prevent panic as that can cause people to flee and put more lives at risk.”

Find out more about our response in Haiti