Acute diarrhea epidemic slackens in Hanoi

09:59' 21/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge - The Hanoi Department of Health has asked the public to stay vigilant even though the acute diarrhea epidemic is showing signs of abating in the capital city.
Head of the department Le Anh Tuan said at a press briefing in Hanoi on April 18 that over the past few days, less acute diarrhea patients had been admitted to hospital and no more cases had tested positive for Vibrio Cholerae.
Mr Tuan said that the Hanoi Preventive Medicine Department had taken water samples from 30 out of 110 high-risk lakes and ponds in the city for testing and found that 11 out of 30 lakes had no this strain of bacteria, but many of the remainder had Ecoli infections.
Earlier, 1.75 tonnes of Cloramin B was used to disinfect Linh Quang lake in Dong Da precinct from Vibrio Cholarae. Later water samples showed that the lake was free from the strain. More than 2,000 residents living around the lake were given vaccine to protect them from the bacteria.
Currently, Hanoi cannot control the supply of vegetables into the city, said Mr Tuan, adding that 60 percent of the vegetables have an unknown origin. Vegetables taken from several green grocers have tested positive for Vibrio Cholarae.
He asked local people to pay more attention to food safety and hygiene to protect themselves from the epidemic.