Havana on health alert after eight children die

	Tweet

Cuban health authorities urged Havana residents on Sunday to take extra hygiene precautions as they investigate the deaths of eight children from an unknown cause.

A government communique said that there had been an increase in digestive and respiratory illnesses reported over the last two weeks in the Cuban capital coinciding with power, cooking gas and water problems, in part caused by Hurricane Dennis, which passed a few miles east of Havana July 8.

The statement said children were particularly susceptible, and in some cases high fever and other complications developed.

"In this context eight deaths among minors have occurred which are being meticulously investigated,” the communique, broadcast during the government’s nightly television newscast, said.

While children die at high rates in developing countries from various diseases, such deaths are rare in communist Cuba, which takes pride in a relatively well-developed and free health care system. 

RELATED STORIES:
Secondhand smoke tied to kids’ behavior problems   Kids anxious before surgery slower to recover   Babies see it coming   First Lady Michelle Obama Confronts Childhood Obesity   Zinc in pregnancy combats children’s diarrhea   Kids Who Are Sick Have Fewer Friends   Pollution worse inside school buses than out   Are Sleepy Kids at Risk for Obesity?   Prenatal arsenic exposure quintuples infant death risk   Risks associated with secondhand smoke in cars carrying children   Prenatal Cocaine Exposure Affects Attention in Early School Years   Breastfeeding Duration and Weaning Diet May Shape Child’s Body Composition

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]