Volume 17, Number 11—November 2011
THEME ISSUE
CHOLERA IN HAITI
Dispatch
Cholera Prevention Training Materials for Community Health Workers, Haiti, 2010–2011
Anu Rajasingham
, Anna Bowen, Ciara O’Reilly, Kari Sholtes, Katie Schilling, Catherine Hough, Joan Brunkard, Jean Wysler Domercant, Gerald Lerebours, Jean Cadet, Robert E. Quick, and Bobbie Person
, Anna Bowen, Ciara O’Reilly, Kari Sholtes, Katie Schilling, Catherine Hough, Joan Brunkard, Jean Wysler Domercant, Gerald Lerebours, Jean Cadet, Robert E. Quick, and Bobbie Person
Table 2
Key cholera questions and response messages for community health workers, Haiti, 2011
| What is cholera disease? |
| Cholera disease causes a lot of watery diarrhea and vomiting. |
| Cholera diarrhea can look like cloudy rice water. |
| Cholera can cause death from dehydration (the loss of water and salts from the body) within hours if not treated. |
| How is cholera spread? |
| Cholera germs are found in the feces (poop) or vomit of infected people. |
| Cholera is spread when feces (poop) or vomit from an infected person gets into the water people drink or the food people eat. |
| Cholera is not likely to spread directly from one person to another. |
| What are the key ways to protect yourself and your family from cholera and other diarrheal diseases? |
| Drink and use safe water. (Safe water is water that is bottled with an unbroken seal, has been boiled, or has been treated with a chlorine product.) |
| Wash hands often with soap and safe water. If no soap is available, scrub hands often with ash or sand and rinse with safe water. |
| Use latrines or bury your feces (poop), do not defecate in any body of water. |
| Cook food well (especially seafood), eat it hot, keep it covered, and peel fruits and vegetables. |
| Clean up safely— in the kitchen and in places where your family bathes and washes clothes. |
| What should you do if you or your family is ill with diarrhea? |
| If you have oral rehydration solution (ORS), start taking it now; it can save your life. |
| Go immediately to the nearest health facility, cholera treatment center, or community health worker, if you can. |
| Continue to drink ORS at home and while you travel to get treatment. |
| Continue to breastfeed your baby if they have watery diarrhea, even when traveling to get treatment. |
Page created: October 26, 2011
Page updated: October 26, 2011
Page reviewed: October 26, 2011
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.