Diarrhoeal diseases, skin rashes most common trends during floods – Health Minister

Amid the current rainy season and warnings of potential flooding, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony has urged citizens to implement common practices to keep themselves safe.
This is in light of instances where flooding has resulted in skin rashes or diarrhoeal conditions among the population. For diarrhoeal diseases, he noted that simply boiling water before consumption is a good preventative measure.
“In flood conditions, we noticed two general trends. One is that if the water is not safe, we can see people having diarrhoeal diseases. To prevent diarrhoeal diseases, a simple way is to boil the water. I suspect everyone would have access to some means of boiling water. It’s better to use boiled water in those conditions,” the Health Minister shared on Friday.
Chlorine tablets have also been used to kill germs in water, since floodwaters cause increased contamination of potable water.
“We can also add bleach to the water. One teaspoon of bleach to one litre of water. In that way, it can help to disinfect the water and kill germs. If you have chlorine tablets, that can be added to water and it’s the same effect it would have. Very often during flood conditions, water can be contaminated.”
Dr Anthony has advised that if skin rashes develop, it is essential to visit a health facility and be treated with medications.
He shared, “The second most prevalent condition we see is that people would have skin rashes. If you have skin rashes, it’s important that you come and see one of the doctors at the health centre and they would be able to identify what types of rashes you have and prescribe the appropriate medications.”
The Hydrometeorological Service of the Agriculture Ministry has forecasted wetter than usual rainfall conditions across all regions of Guyana for the months of November 2022 to January 2023, otherwise known as Guyana’s secondary rainfall season.
The usual secondary rainfall season will be augmented by persistent La Nina conditions during the season. Rainfall is expected to increase considerably from mid-November and continue at least to January, 2023.
During the upcoming rainy season, water levels in conservancies, reservoirs, and inland rivers across Regions One to Eight and 10 are likely to increase with a high risk of flooding. On the other hand, Region Nine would continue to be dry, but can expect more than the usual amount of rainy days. (G12)