ABSTRACT
Water borne diseases such as cholera, enteric fever and dysentery were expected after the tsunami, which hit the coastal areas of Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. In the present study 151 drinking water sources were collected from the tsunami affected villages and relief shelters and tested for coliforms and pathogens. Nine well water samples were also collected for specific bacteriological analysis. Presence of coliforms was detected in 56 (37%) water samples. One isolate each of Salmonella Paratyphi B and NAG Vibrio were isolated from two well water samples. There was no report of acute diarrhoeal diseases or typhoid illness during the post tsunami period monitored by a field microbiology laboratory for a month.
Subject(s)
Diarrhea/prevention & control , Disaster Planning , Disasters , Enterobacteriaceae/isolation & purification , Environmental Monitoring/methods , Escherichia coli/isolation & purification , Fresh Water/microbiology , Humans , India , Salmonella paratyphi B/isolation & purification , Typhoid Fever/prevention & control , Vibrio/isolation & purification , Water Pollution , Water SupplyABSTRACT
Total and differential white cell counts (WCC) were done in 50 patients with burns involving 10% to 40% of the total body surface area (TBSA) and in 32 age and sex matched controls. Polymorphonuclear cell counts were low from 1st to 30th post burn (PB) days, lymphocyte counts were normal throughout the PB period whereas eosinophil counts were high from 1st to 60th PB days. Total leucocyte counts were significantly lower than controls from 8th to 60th PB days.