Cholera update/Cholera in Dom Rep/Cocaine affects brain/Ex-Grenada governor general dies
PUBLIC HEALTH UPDATE: CHOLERA OUTBREAK IN CUBA
The Ministry of Health and Public Health Officials are urging travellers to Cuba to take measures to prevent cholera following confirmation of a renewed outbreak of the disease in Cuba.
As at August 23 2013, 163 cholera cases have been confirmed in the provinces of Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Camaguey, as well as other municipalities, where cases were found to be associated with these three provinces.
The National International Health Regulation (IHR) focal point of Cuba also noted that, following the outbreak recorded in early 2013, cholera cases are analysed regularly.
For as long as the cholera outbreak in Cuba continues, Acting Medical Officer of Health, Dr Samuel Williams, has issued an updated travel advisory. This states that while there are no travel restrictions to Cuba, travellers to that country, as well as to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which are also affected by outbreaks, are advised to be aware of the basic cholera facts and to observe basic cholera prevention recommendations of: frequent hand-washing and using food and water which are known to be safe (see guidelines below).
Dr. Williams also reminds residents that cholera is not present in the Cayman Islands and there is no threat of its occurrence, as the islands have modern water and sewage treatment systems.
“Nevertheless we ask anyone who has travelled to Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic to contact their doctor immediately should they develop watery diarrhoea and vomiting within five days of leaving. It is also important to state their travel history to their doctor,” he advised.
To ensure readiness the Public Health Department called a multi-agency preparedness meeting on Thursday, 29 August 2013
During this meeting, Minister of Health the Hon. Osbourne Bodden said, “I am impressed by the preparations and applaud Public Health Officials and healthcare professionals, as well as all other relevant stakeholders, for their pro-active efforts to detect and manage any imported cholera cases.”
For more information on cholera please call the Public Health Department on 244-2621.
Tips for Prevention
Travellers to Cuba can greatly reduce the risk of contracting the disease by following these practices:
• Drink only bottled, boiled or chemically-treated water and/or bottled or canned beverages.
• Ensure that seals are unbroken when using bottled drinks.
• Disinfect your own water: boil for one minute or filter the water and add two drops of household bleach or half an iodine tablet per litre of water.
• Use bottled, boiled or chemically-treated water to wash dishes and brush teeth.
• Use ice in your drink only if you know it was made from boiled or treated water.
• Wash your hands often with soap and clean water.
• Clean your hands before you eat or prepare foods, and after using the bathroom.
• Eat foods that have been thoroughly cooked and are still hot, or fruit that you have peeled yourself.
• Cook all vegetables. Do not eat salads or other raw vegetables.
• Do not buy food or beverages from street vendors.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TESTS CITY’S WATER AFTER CHOLERA SICKENS AT LEAST 93 PEOPLE IN PAST WEEK
From The Washington Post
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Authorities in the Dominican Republic are checking the water in a city in the south of the Caribbean country after a sharp rise in cholera in recent days.
The director of the Ministry of Health’s water department says cholera has sickened at least 93 people in the past week in San Cristobal. None of the cases has been fatal.
Jose Joaquin Nunez says inspectors have fanned out to check distributors of water and water purifiers. Most Dominicans drink bottled or purified water because tap water isn’t considered safe.
For more on this story go to:
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-29/world/41574815_1_cholera-dominican-republic-water
NEW STUDY SHOWS COCAINE RAPIDLY CHANGES BRAIN STRUCTURE
From Caribbean360
CALIFORNIA, United States – A new study in the United States has demonstrated that taking cocaine can change the structure of the brain within two hours in what could be the first steps of drug addiction.
Research reported in the journal Nature Neuroscience showed new structures linked to learning and memory began to grow in mice soon after the drug was taken.
The more brain changes occurred, the greater the preference for cocaine, moreover, in what scientists described as the brain “learning addiction”.
The research team at the University of California, Berkeley and UC San Francisco looked for tiny protrusions from brain cells called dendritic spines, which are heavily implicated in memory formation.
A type of laser microscopy was used to examine the brains of living mice to look, for the dendritic spines, and more new spines were produced when the mice were injected with cocaine than with water, suggesting new memories being formed around drug use.
“Our images provide clear evidence that cocaine induces rapid gains in new spines, and the more spines the mice gain, the more they show they learned about the drug. This gives us a possible mechanism for how drug use fuels further drug-seeking behaviour,” said Linda Wilbrecht, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley.
“These drug-induced changes in the brain may explain how drug-related cues come to dominate decision making in a human drug user,” she indicated.
For more on this story go to: http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/949572.html?utm_source=Caribbean360+Newsletters&utm_campaign=c311cf4958-Vol_8_Issue_155_News8_30_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_350247989a-c311cf4958-39393477#ixzz2dV2wa9pY
EX-GRENADA GOVERNOR GENERAL PAUL SCOON DIES AT 78
From SF Gate
ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada (AP) — Paul Scoon, who was Grenada’s governor general during the U.S. invasion of the small island in 1983, has died in his Caribbean homeland. He was 78.
In announcing his death Monday, Grenada’s government did not give a cause. But Scoon had long had diabetes, and friends say he died at his home in the community of St. Paul’s.
Prime Minister Keith Mitchell described Scoon as a “fearless man.”
He was the British monarch’s representative on the former British colony from 1978 until 1992. That made him the longest serving governor general in Grenada since the island was granted independence in 1974.
Scoon helped establish an interim government after 7,000 U.S. Marines and Army paratroopers invaded Grenada and toppled a post-coup military government.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
For more on this story go to:
