Forty-two people died of diarrhoea in the last one month as the deadly water-borne disease spread alarmingly throughout the country due to hot and humid weather coupled with scarcity of pure drinking water. According to the control room of the directorate general of health services, 87,173 diarrhoea-affected people had been treated in hospitals last month and 42 of them died. At least 110 died of diarr- hoeal diseases and 3,43,922 were affected since January 1 this year.

Nutrition situation is deteriorating in the country with the outbreak of diarrhoea when 12 to 15 percent of children are already suffering from malnutrition due to poverty, food insecurity, low birth weight, lack of awareness and hygiene practice. Diarrhoea is a major cause of malnutrition and morbidity of children aged under five years across the globe, and 17 percent of children below five years die every year globally due to diarrhoea, of which 95 percent children are in developing countries, says World Health Organisation.

The BWSSB officials on Monday said there is no case of water contamination at Shamanna Garden from where 20 suspected gastro-entritis cases were shifted to Isolation Hospital. Assistant Executive Engineer K Narasanna said the samples of water were taken from the spot and tested in the presence of BBMP health inspector. "The samples showed sufficient chlorination and so it has been clearly proved there is no problem with the water quality,' he said.

The threat of a cholera outbreak loomed large over the City with 46 suspected cases of the disease being admitted at Isolation Hospital since Sunday. Seven cases which tested positive for cholera under the hanging drop method, at St Martha's Hospital (5) and St Philomena's Hospital (2), were referred to Isolation Hospital. According to BBMP, 35 cases of gastroenteritis (GE) were reported from various parts of the City over the past two days, the highest number of them from Shamanna Garden and surrounding areas in Jagajivanram Nagar.

Survivors of Cyclone Nargis are overwhelming army-ruled Myanmar's crumbling health service and it faces a "worst-case scenario" of disease outbreaks unless aid is ramped up, a UN health expert said on Sunday. At a hospital in Bogalay, one of the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta towns, local doctors were working around the clock to treat as many as 5,000 out-patients a day, Osamu Kunii of the UN children's fund said.

This is summer time. This is the season of diseases like diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, jaundice and typhoid. But, hospitals in Kathmandu have been witnessing lesser number of dysentery, cholera, jaundice and typhoid patients during the past few summers. The only water-borne disease whose number of cases still keeps going up is diarrhea.

Doctors in the Capital have sounded a note of warning over the rising number of gastroenteritis cases in recent day, with the city already having recorded 8,268 cases till March this year. Hygiene The number of cases is higher than what was recorded during the corresponding period last year. In 2007, 5,140 cases of gastroenteritis were reported till March, while 7,354 cases were recorded in 2006.

As many as 15 districts of Punjab have been declared high risk areas by the World Health Organisation and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for the communicable diseases, gastroenteritis and diarrhoea. The warning has been issued based on reports showing alarming increase in the number of patients in these districts suffering from the above-mentioned diseases. The districts include: Lahore, Rawalpindi, Khushab, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Kasur, Bahawalnagar, Multan, Muzaffargarh, DG Khan, Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhang, Mandi Bahuddin and Narowal.

According to the latest global report card, India ranks 27th along with Ghana and Eritrea when it comes to providing basic healthcare to its children, which includes life-saving interventions like prenatal care, skilled childbirth, immunization and treatment for diarrhoea and pneumonia. Over 53% children in India under five years

Speakers at a seminar yesterday stressed the need for forming a national planning and policy committee for emergency diarrhoea preparedness with the support of the government and the NGOs. With the outbreak of diarrhoea worsening in the last few weeks, the speakers called for establishing satellite treatment centers with ICDDR,B-trained staff. They also suggested appropriate functional plans in collaboration with the government, increased behavioral change communication and awareness programme for the general population.

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