ARTEMISA, February 27 (Rafael Peraza, APO) - Up to 550 students may have
been affected by an outbreak of diarrhea in Artemisa, just outside of Havana
February 23.
Between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. students started trickling in to the Ciro Redondo
hospital, all with the same simptoms: diarrhea, fever and stomach aches. The
students all attend the Molino del Rey secondary school and the Mártires
de Kent middle school. By 11 a.m., over 150 students had checked in at the
hospital.
Some of the students were treated and released to a shelter set up for them
in a nearby school. Others were kept in the hospital due to their advanced state
of dehydration. Some of the students were too weak to walk on arrival.
The schools involved are both "schools in the countryside," where
Cuban students do agricultural labor during the school year. Independent
specialists pointed out that these schools frequently have contamination
problems with their water and food.
Public Health officials who were called in have not made any statements.
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