RSS 2.0 FeedJune 2011 Vol 34, Health Indaba
Diarrhoea outbreak kills 10 kids in Zimbabwe
Harare - At least 10 children have died from a suspected diarrhoea outbreak which has affected over 200 children in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo over the past month, a state daily said on Wednesday.
"More than 200 children suffering from the disease were admitted during the month of June," The Herald newspaper quoted an official at the government-run Mpilo Hospital as saying.
"Ten children have died. Technicians at our laboratories are analysing stools to determine the cause of the disease."
An official at a private hospital in the city said at least three children had died of diarrhoea at the hospital.
Outbreaks of diarrhoea diseases such as cholera are common in Zimbabwe, especially during the rainy season.
Diarrhoea thrives in places without proper sanitation. The disorder is preventable with clean water and proper sewage.
Over 4 000 people died of cholera in Zimbabwe in an outbreak which affected nearly 100 000 people in 2008.
According to Unicef, diarrhoea is responsible for 7.7% of deaths in Africa.
