The rising rate at which the people of Haiti are becoming sick and dying from Cholera has medical workers in the country alarmed.
Stefano Zannini, head of the mission for Medicin Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), says that the staff there is seeing seven times the number of cases they were seeing only three days ago. He stressed that the country had not witnessed a peak yet but that it may happen as soon as next week.
As of Thursday the death toll from the Cholera outbreak was at 796 people. There are over 12,000 that have become sick from the disease. Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population has warned that this outbreak could last for months and place the entire nation at risk. The lack of immunity in the country makes infection more likely.
The U.N. has issued a warning that Haiti is potentially facing the most severe Cholera outbreak in 100 years. They are currently attempting to raise funds from donors to help and stated they expect up to 200,000 Haitians to be sickened from Cholera.
Currently the serious issue is the confirmed cases that originated in the tent cities of Port-au-Prince. The disease is more likely to spread in these highly congested and unsanitary areas.
Symptoms of Cholera can be mild or nonexistant for some. However, they are often serious. These symptoms include watery diarrhea, vomiting, leg cramps and loss of bodily fluids. The loss of fluids can lead to dehydration and shock.
When left untreated a person may die in a matter of hours.
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