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Diarrhoeal diseases in children

Feb 11, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
I wish to refer to Dr. Shamdeo Persaud’s comment about the “upsurge in diarrhoeal diseases in children”.
As much as I respect the learned Doctor’s diagnosis, I beg to differ. This problem has nothing to do with sanitation practices in terms of contaminated water, etc. We are threatened by an airborne disease which could have resulted from Anthrax (who let the dogs out?), a fall-out from Chemical weapons experiment or from the insanitary dust that rose after the recent earthquake in Haiti and brought here by the air currents.
This illness is not restricted to children of five years and under but to entire households, irrespective of age or gender.
The recent child deaths could have been as a result of the parents reacting too late and in some cases, no amount of rehydration can help. There was an incident where a mother took her baby with the same illness to a doctor who treated the infant. This diarrhoeal effect does not stop immediately but has to run its course until the bacteria is eradicated. The referred-to mother, out of frustration, took her baby to another doctor who also treated the child. As a result of ignorance, the innocent child died. This is sad and unfortunate.
No one seems to be able to put a label to this almost pandemic situation that has affected mostly the residents of the Atlantic coastline.
Stephen Michael Monasingh.

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