Some Families in Areas Hit by Cholera Receive Water Filters

The Ministry of Health distributed 100 water filters to residents of Kratie province’s Thmei commune, where the presence of the cholera bacterium was confirmed by laboratory testing last week, Suon Nhak, Chet Borei district governor, said yesterday.

One filter went to the commune primary school, one went to the commune health center and the other 98 went to families who live in the commune.

“We still need to cover around 114 families. We need more support to provide more water filters,” he said.

Mr Nhak said local authorities and health officials are continuing educational programs about proper sanitation and hygiene as the ongoing dry season is driving people to use unsafe water.

“We advised them to use water from wells, filtered water and boiled water,” he said. “We are still taking precautions, because the rainy season has not come yet and finding clean water is still a big problem.”

Chhneang Sovuth, deputy prov­incial health director, said yesterday that April 1 was the last time the number of people reporting diarrhea had been updated. The number stands at a total of 281 cases with 85 serious cases sent to the provincial hospital for further treatment.

“Right now the situation is better,” he said. “Every day the number of people with diarrhea is re­ducing a lot.”

Last Wednesday, Sok Touch, di­rector of communicable disease control at the Health Ministry, said two samples taken from the commune tested positive for cholera, but the results from five people who died after suffering severe diarrhea were not yet available.

Dr Ou Khylay, director of the provincial referral hospital, said yesterday that 96 people were admitted to the hospital with serious diarrhea, and 88 had returned home.

Although he had noticed that the number of new cases was slowing, he added that precautions should be taken to prevent new occurrences.

The number of cases “is down, but we still need to pay attention even if it is quiet,” he said. “We need to continue educating people.”

   (Additional reporting by Christi Hang)

 

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