3,000 hospitalised with diarrhea in Jawzjan

SHIBARGHAN (PAN): Nearly 3,000 residents of the Aqcha district in northern Jawzjan province have been hospitalized with diarrhea over the past 20 days, residents and doctors said on Thursday.

Jawzjan public health officials say they have taken measures to prevent further spread of the infectious disease that is causing those symptoms, which in some cases can be life-threatening.

A resident of Kalta Shakh village, Faizullah, brought his 11-year-old son to the Shibarghan Civil Hospital. The boy has had diarrhea for 10 days and was continuously vomiting. He complained that his son was not provided with satisfactory treatment at the public hospital, and he was transferring his son to a private clinic.

One resident of a nearby village, Faizullah, said the number of patients is increasing day by day, and doctors are unable to cope with such a huge number of patients. He said that three children from his village have died as a result of diarrhea.

Public Health Ministry spokesman Ghullam Sakhi Kargar said efforts are being made to provide all possible facilities to people suffering from diarrhea in hospitals.

Tribal elder Haji Khair Mohammad linked the spread of the disease to a lack of access to safe drinking water, poor hygiene, hot weather and environmental pollution.

Public Health Director Dr. Rahmatullah Haidari said they have taken preventive measures over past two days, sending health teams to various parts of the district to raise awareness about the disease. He confirmed the death of one child from diarrhea.

Haidari said people are afraid of vomiting and diarrhea because they associate those symptoms with cholera.

Diarrhea and vomiting are symptoms that can be caused by a number of pathogens, and Kargar of the health ministry said it is premature to comment on the nature of the disease until laboratory tests are conducted.

mm/ma/at

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