Health authorities in Nicoya are calling for extra care for personal and family hygiene to prevent and reduce cases of diarrhea, which have shown no sign of decreasing since the beginning of this year.
Weekly monitoring done by Health has registered 420 cases in the La Anexion Hospital, from the last week of December 2013 until February of this year.
Doctor Sofia Soto, in charge of the Epidemiologic Vigilance department at the La Anexion Hospital, explained that the majority of the cases were children from one to twelve years old, and indicated that their recent return to school could increase the number of patients.
She also mentioned that the priority in these cases is to avoid dehydration, which is why patients are given serums, liquids and medicines.
For her part, Doctor Maricela Villegas Angulo, coordinator of the Health Vigilance team in Nicoya, stated that she is worried that the number of cases is not decreasing, and informed that the neighborhoods with the highest number of cases during the first weeks of the year were San Martin, with 78 cases.
The week with the highest number of cases was February 2-8 (the sixth of the year), during which 75 cases were reported. That week coincided with the elections, the beginning of the school year and the fiestas in Nicoya, which saw an increase in the consumption of food prepared in the street, according to Ministry of Health data.
Hygiene is the priority
Villegas insisted that washing hands is the main way to prevent the spread of the virus. “It seems to me that we’ve let our guard down with regard to washing hands and using gel hand sanitizer,” she explained.
Authorities are reminding residents to be careful while preparing and consuming food in public places, as well as storing water in hermetically-sealed bottles to avoid contam
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