The migration of a population displaced by a natural disaster such as the occurrence of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit the people of Haiti did introduce mortality rates due to unhealthy and unsanitary conditions the refugees lived under in camps. The overcrowded living conditions facilitated a quadrupled spread and transmission of infectious disease such as cholera bacteria inflicting diarrhea. These infections are easily spread through contaminated water. Emotional stress which has a great impact on the physical as well as the mental health of the population quickly degraded the body immune system. Inadequate quantities and qualities of water to sustain health and personal hygiene, poor environmental sanitation and insufficient shelter are all factors that made cholera more potent. An infectious disease like cholera thrives best in a malnutrition host with no access to health care. However, it would be appropriate to educate the people about the bacteria involved hence the need to highlight on the origin (primary) of the bacteria causing cholera. The secondary transmission route would also be enumerated and the impact they both have on the people. The ways in which the spread of the infection could be reduced would further be elaborated. The center for disease control and prevention (CDC) was quick to report that the strain of cholera that was spreading could have originated in the south-eastern Asia. A handful of activists blame the outbreak on Haiti’s substandard
Although most disease struck the poorest, the upper class was not fully immune. Because people wanted to move to cities to make their lives better, they were forced to live around these diseases without proper means for prevention, protection, and recovery. Once contracting the disease, they would either die within hours or suffer from uncontrollable diarrhea and pain. In addition, scientific knowledge on disease was not as developed as it fortunately is today. Doctors had not yet learned the concept of a germ theory and instead associated the disease with the “bad air” that surrounded toxic, polluted cities. This “bad air” was known as miasa and was incorrectly used to explain the spread of cholera in major cities during the mid 1800s. After studies and research, doctors noticed that there was a heavy concentration of miasmata near certain rivers, but they still connected it to a lack of air quality in bustling cities such as Manchester, London, and Paris. Although air pollution and coal emissions did play a role in certain illnesses, they were not the main cause for diseases such as cholera. Poor ventilation, dirty homes, malnourishment, and no access to clean water made people easily susceptible to a ruthless disease like cholera. Moreover, causes of cholera were investigated more thoroughly after John Snow’s theory claimed that cholera was spread through the water John Snow was an English physician who is today considered one of the fathers of modern epidemiology, the branch of medicine that deals with the distribution and control of diseases relating to health. Finally, doctors could see cholera in a new light and were able to find better means of protection and prevention for its victims. Today, doctors recognize the germ theory of disease which states that some diseases are caused by microorganisms, and not just by “bad
Compounding this lack of care, Haitians also lack clean drinking water and proper sanitation systems. Less than half the population has access to clean drinking water, a rate that is only surpassed by civil war-torn African nations. Even worse, half the population of Haiti can be categorized as “food insecure,” and this malnutrition has created a generation where half of all Haitian children are undersized (IFRC, 2010). In addition, this poor sanitation and hygiene, coupled with inadequate nutrition, have contributed to exceptionally high levels of individuals with chronic, yet often at best ill-treated, conditions.
The earthquake of 2010 altered the way the people of Haiti looked at everyday life, as well as, it caused them to be deprived of all hope on creating a new beginning. On Tuesday January 12, 2010, the Haitian society knew that their world would never be the same. Having killed over 300,000 people and wounded more than 200,000 people, the magnitude 7.0 earthquake was demoralizing to the Haitians (“The 2010 Haiti Earthquake”). To make matters worse, following the magnitude 7.0 earthquake there were twelve aftershocks containing a magnitude larger than 5.0 (“Earthquake in Haiti”). The outcome of the earthquake was devastating to the extent that the minority of people who survived stood on the remains of their churches, grocery stores, and even their own homes. Corporations like Merlin USA and others around the globe are contributing in various ways to help try to rebuild Haiti’s nation. Working to repair Haiti’s demolished society, Merlin tries to bring appropriate health care to all susceptible associations in Haiti (“Haiti”). Strongly, Merlin continues to put in a great effort and they have tended to around 47,986 patients merely in Port-au-Prince (“Haiti”). Sorrowfully, people are constantly dying from Cholera in Haiti; nevertheless, it seems to them that nothing the world can offer will be able to cure the adversity they have encountered.
Haiti was once the first black independent republic in the world and the richest island in the Caribbean. Today Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest countries in the world. What could have happened to Haiti in almost two hundred years of history? The country experienced repeated civil war and foreign intervention. Haiti is not isolated from the international world. Thus, it was not out of concern for ordinary Haitians that the United States intervened in Haiti. It was out of concern for profit and stability within the United States' own backyard. The purpose of this paper is to show the negative aspect that the United States had played in the government of Haiti.
Haiti is a beautiful Caribbean country that has had more than its fair share of hardship. A culture of strength and perseverance is evident from the moment one arrives and it only feels stronger the further one travels from Port au Prince. The people are of African descent, with a strong French influence creating a uniquely mixed culture that is rare in the western hemisphere. The business climate is such that there are very few foreign businesses or joint ventures in Haiti and although there are many historic reasons for that, there now sits immense opportunity. First-mover advantage is only an advantage if the first-mover is successful. A firm in the initial stages of market research into Haiti will be drawn to the dream of
The harsh journey, causing thousands of people to pass away from the cholera epidemic, and turning the land from an appealing area to live into the biggest
My nursing practice has been affected by the medical mission trips that I have taken to Haiti. This course has further expanded my knowledge of global nursing and helped me to understand and envision new ways to improve health outcomes. I have been face to face with impoverished people who lacked access to clean drinking water, proper sanitation, nourishment and healthcare services. The life expectancy at birth in Haiti for women is 64 and in men is 61 (WHO, 2015). Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and is still recovering from the catastrophic earth quake that occurred in 2010. As result of the earth quake, 220,000 were killed, more than 300,000 were injured and 1.5 million people lost their homes (Breakey, Corless, Meedzan, & Nicholas, 2015). The country experienced a large cholera outbreak following the earth quake because of their poor sanitation practices. The country continues to face many health challenges, so organizations from around the world are poised to help address the health disparities experienced by the Haitian people and others in developing nations around the world. Nurses are an important member of this team as lobby for change, provide much needed financial resources, give of their time and work toward making this world a better place for everyone to live.
The year is 1849 and so far I have discovered several things about the cholera outbreak in London. My colleagues assume that the cause of cholera is caused by poison carried in the air that results from decaying matter (Fairbanks and Candelaria 10). However, I disagree with my colleagues in their belief of the miasma theory (Mckenzie 13). I have constructed a theory that the disease is spread by person-to-person contact and the material causing the cholera, must be in fact, swallowed and introduced into the alimentary canal (Fairbanks and Candelaria 10). My experience with the disease shows that not everyone who treats a sick person becomes sick, and others get sick even with the absence of a sick person in close proximity (Fairbanks and Candelaria 10). I have found that physicians who practice superior cleanliness do not get cholera. Cholera outbreak also seems to be worse among working class people, poor cleanliness seems to be what contributes to the spread of the disease (Fairbanks and Candelaria 10). The sanitary conditions of the city are not well by any means. The city is overcrowded, streets were unpaved, filthy, and heaped with trash and garbage (McKenzie 11). Most people get their drinking water from a water pump that is in close proximity to their house.
Cholera has not been a problem in Haiti for at least a century so its reintroduction into the population was a matter of great dispute. The isolated strain appeared to be similar to cholera strains of South Asian origin leading scientists to believe that the strain was imported.
A week after Hurricane Matthew, a storm that struck on October third that killed hundreds of people and forced thousands from their homes, the relief effort is finally gaining steam in Haiti, with the flow of food and medicine increasing to cities that will serve as hubs for desperate outlying villages. As Hurricane Matthew passes, Haitians are struggling with Cholera, an infectious disease that can be deadly and is transmitted through contaminated water or food and that's not the end of their problems. Haiti is in a long political crisis and during this national emergency the government has failed to act accordingly instead depending on foreign donors. Haiti still haven't finished their election, which is predicted to start again soon to have a stable leader in this time of need instead
This disease can be spread easily, and many people were infected for a while. Many people emigrated during these years because of cholera. “44 percent of respondents in an April 1999 Pentor Poll maintained that the
In this paper, I am going to discuss the epidemic that was going on during the time in which my story was written. The Cholera epidemic was a very serious illness and was spreading very rampantly. I will discuss the signs and symptoms that are associated with the illness and what was the probable cause. I will also discuss a few changes that were made with public sanitation do to the outbreak of Cholera.
After US occupation, the Haitian government was in a state of unrest with political oppression, violence, and several coups. The UN began bringing in peacekeepers to help improve the political situation in 1994 and today the Republic of Haiti has its own functioning government, with President Michel Martelly at the head (Krasnoff 2013). Since the slave revolution that led to the country’s independence over 200 years ago, Haiti has remained deep in debt; it wasn’t until 20 years ago that there was a fully functional government, which to this day still has its fair share of corruption. With all this in mind, it’s no wonder that Haiti has been hit hard by many disasters, including the outbreak of cholera (Krasnoff, 2013). The country does not have the money to help provide treatment for those infected, sanitation, and clean drinking water outside of the main cities where many of its citizens live. The young government has not yet been able to organize a system to help its
Recently I watched a news broadcast about the unfortunate Hurricane Matthew which demolished several communities in Haiti. The news reporters conveyed the setting appropriately as the audience could see the catastrophic consequences after the Hurricane hit. As the reporters interviewed local individuals about the event, the viewers could hear the remorseful, angered, and distributed tone of the people who faced this calamity. My heart breaks to hear that many people have to live in awful conditions without sanitized water or proper sewage systems. I feel greatly ashamed to hear of other people’s sufferings because I feel that aristocratic citizens of first world countries are absorbed with their problems they forget some communities do not
There are other common sources of cholera bacterium are surface or well water, seafood, raw fruits and vegetables, and grains. In water, Vibrio cholerae can survive for long periods of time, staying dormant. People in areas with poor sanitation, like crowded refugee camps, are at risk of cholera, due to the fact that water provided for said community could be a source of contamination of cholera bacteria. Seafood, when raw or undercooked, can be contaminated by cholera bacteria, if the seafood came from certain areas with contaminated waters. Since the 1970s, cholera outbreaks in the U.S. have been caused by smuggled seafood from cholera-infected areas, and from the Gulf of Mexico. Shellfish are especially contaminated, due to the fact that “they filter large amounts of water, concentrating the levels of cholera bacteria”. Raw fruits—especially unpeeled—and vegetables coming from an area with a source of cholera are another frequent source of the cholera bacteria. Innoculation of the fruits