Dominican Republic registers first case of cholera from Haiti
The Dominican Republic recorded the first case of cholera, a diarrheal disease transmitted through food contaminated with the Vibrio Cholerae bacteria.
It is a disease that is transmitted by contact of the mouth with feces. The first person to become infected was a woman who came from Haiti and was captured by the surveillance system of the General Directorate of Epidemiology in the city of Higüey.
She is a Haitian patient, 32 years old, who entered the Dominican Republic on October 17th from Port-au-Prince.
The patient presented acute diarrhea, suspicious for cholera. She also had amoebic colitis, acute pyelonephritis, and pre-existing renal failure.
The woman who is positive for cholera is admitted to the Nuestra Señora de La Altagracia hospital, municipality of Higüey, where she receives the treatments she requires.
The health authorities immediately proceeded to make an epidemiological fence to prevent the disease from spreading, as it is highly infectious. It is sought that anyone who has had contact with the patient has not been infected, which, in effect, has not been recorded.
Current diagnosis
With the infected woman, the diagnosis was achieved by the analytical intervention of the Dr. Defilló National Laboratory. It was specified that the sample tested positive for serogroup 01, serotype Ogawa. Authorities insist that most cholera patients have mild symptoms of dehydration, only 20% develop moderate to severe dehydration.
In that order, the Minister of Health, Dr. Daniel Rivera, reported that the patient, during her stay in Port-au-Prince, ate food, then felt ill and clinically here in the country she began to have diarrhea. The epidemiological fence was immediately made, he insisted