Flu and gastroenteritis alert

The Ministry of Health wishes to inform the public that we are into flu season.

The general public is advised to maintain good hygiene and follow the instructions given in order to prevent the spread of communicable diseases such as influenza like illness and acute gastroenteritis in Dominica.

Seasonal flu is a yearly occurrence of flu infection caused by a flu virus.  It is a contagious respiratory illness that may cause mild to severe illnesses.

•    If you are experiencing flu like symptoms (i.e. fever, cough, sore throat, headache, chill and vomiting) or acute diarrheal symptoms (3 episodes or more of loose bowel in 24 hours) seek medical attention at your nearest health centre/facility.

If you are having flu-like symptoms please observe the following
*    Avoid being in crowded place and close contact of others.
*    Use clean tissue to cover nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing
*   Place used tissue in a garbage bin after single use
*    Wash your hands with soap and water and/or use hand sanitizer often.
*    Do not take aspirin for fever

Gastroenteritis is a condition that causes irritation and inflammation of the stomach and intestines. It is caused by eating food or drinking water which is contaminated by a bacteria or virus. Lack of or improper hand washing, especially after using the toilet or handling of dirty diapers causes the spread of Gastroenteritis from one person to another.

•    In case of diarrheal disease with three episodes or more of loose bowel in 24 hours you should submit stool samples to your nearest health care facility packaged in a clean, clear and tightly capped plastic container along with name, age, gender and address on the container.
•    Drink lots of fluids to prevent dehydration. We recommend oral rehydration fluid, coconut water, diluted fruit juice or plain boiled water.
•    Do not stop breastfeeding a child even if he or she has diarrhoea
•     Observe good hygiene practices to help stem the spread of the illness.
•     Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water or use an alcohol based hand sanitizer after using the toilet, before preparing food and drinks and before breast feeding or handling infants, children or the elderly

REMEMBER YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

For more information contact the Health Promotion Unit at 266 3469/3470.

Copyright 2012 Dominica News Online, DURAVISION INC. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.

Disclaimer: The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of DominicaNewsOnline.com and its parent company or any individual staff member. All comments are posted subject to approval by DominicaNewsOnline.com. We never censor based on political or ideological points of view, but we do try to maintain a sensible balance between free speech and responsible moderating.

We will delete comments that:

  • contain any material which violates or infringes the rights of any person, are defamatory or harassing or are purely ad hominem attacks
  • a reasonable person would consider abusive or profane
  • contain material which violates or encourages others to violate any applicable law
  • promote prejudice or prejudicial hatred of any kind
  • refer to people arrested or charged with a crime as though they had been found guilty
  • contain links to "chain letters", pornographic or obscene movies or graphic images
  • are off-topic and/or excessively long

See our full comment/user policy/agreement.

7 Comments

  1. February 17, 2012

    Wasting hands for 20minutes if you don’t know the time. That means singing happy birthday 2time while washing hands
    Try avoiding sneezing in the hands sneeze in your arm elbo front

  2. SGM
    December 10, 2010

    The big thing that our family is doing to stay healthy this cold and flu season is to make sure we eat lots of fresh whole foods, drink only water and tea all day and we definitely take our Vidazorb – which is a probiotic. I have heard such great things about how much they can help people and I want to really boost my immune system and belly!

  3. TR
    December 7, 2010

    Good information. We need to keep on practicing good hygiene all the time. It is for our own health.

  4. hmmm
    December 7, 2010

    why these symptoms sounding so close to Cholera?

  5. How nice
    December 7, 2010

    It’s amazing to see how many commets are here, something to do with our own HEALTH and no one pays attention, but just let DNO bring a beff and you see the amount of comments that would already be here< Dumbies-in-a-Can ( Dominicans )

  6. mouth of the south
    December 7, 2010

    if peeps practice cleanliness then we should have no fear,,,,it have the characters that cough,,sneeze n don’t have tissue or a cloth to block thier mouth,,,,,if u don’t have such at ur disposal,,,simply lift ur arm n block ur mouth with ur arm,,,,,,shheeessshhhh bear in mind not ur palms,,,, and u have the others who like belching out loud in presence of others i cannot stand them

    • Lizavier4Jesus
      December 7, 2010

      MOTS

      There I am laughing out loud again; the way you said “belching out loud”; because I have not heard “belch” for a long time. In Toronto they trained me to say “burp” but they both mean the same thing anyway–“a loud noise from the throat as one releases gas”. So it is not people’s fault that it comes out loud, but we have to try to be more discrete.

      My grandmother used to go like when the engine of an old car started, and she would last for at least 10 seconds. It was a good thing she only stayed around her children, grandchildren, and their children. That would be so embarrassing to strangers!

      The rest of the advice you gave, like not sneezing or coughing in the palm of our hands, and the better way to do it, are very good advice.

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

:) :-D :wink: :( 8-O :lol: :-| :cry: 8) :-? :-P :-x :?: :oops: :twisted: :mrgreen: more »

 characters available