NYT: Disease and Coordination Vie as Major Challenges

[norml]

Health Concerns

Disease and Coordination Vie as Major Challenges

By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN and KENNETH CHANG
Published: August 31, 2005

As they rushed medical equipment and experts to the Gulf Coast, federal officials warned yesterday that the public health consequences of Hurricane Katrina were likely to be enormous and long term.

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OIL PRICES The cost of a barrel of oil soared above $70 as the damage to offshore platforms became apparent.

PUBLIC HEALTH Officials warned the health consequences were likely to be enormous.

WHITHER NEW ORLEANS People are wondering what will remain of the city, physically and psychologically.

MILITARY RESPONSE Five Navy ships and eight maritime rescue teams were ordered to the Gulf Coast.

HOW TO HELP A partial list of relief organizations and other information available on the Web. The officials said they were particularly worried about outbreaks of disease spread through sewage contamination of drinking water, spoiled food, insects, and bites from snakes and other animals.

Scores of people have already died by drowning or other causes, two by carbon monoxide poisoning from the use of gas-powered generators in poorly ventilated areas. An additional nine people are being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning, federal health officials said at a news conference in Atlanta, home of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rescue workers searched for the injured and disabled yesterday in an effort to prevent additional fatalities, and, trying to head off outbreaks of diarrheal disease, used helicopters to deliver food and safe drinking water.


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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/national/nationalspecial/31health.html?hp&ex=1125547200&en=faf8c7f1460f830a&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[norml]

1. Katrina pushes public health system to brink

Katrina pushes public health system to brink
By Los Angeles Times

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

BATON ROUGE, La. — Authorities along the Gulf Coast faced the collapse of the public health system Tuesday with water supplies sporadic, electricity shut off, hospitals closing and the threat of more injuries and infectious diseases in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Officials also warned against a variety of imminent problems, including encounters with snakes, alligators and other wildlife displaced by the flooding, and the need to minister to the mental health needs of survivors who have lost nearly all their worldly possessions.

The biggest problem they face is that modern medicine requires large amounts of electricity and there was very little available Tuesday — and for the foreseeable future.

At least 10 hospitals in New Orleans were using generator-supplied electricity, and several have already closed. State health authorities have been transporting critically ill patients out of New Orleans by boat, helicopter and bus, said Dr. Jimmy Guidry, the state health officer.


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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/nation/epaper/2005/08/31/a9a_kat_health_0831.html

[kestrel91316]

2. Ok, here's kestrel's priority list for NO:

1) Clear the main roads
2) Restore power to outlying areas
3) Get those pumps working and drain that city. Pronto. Get more fucking pumps. Whatever it takes
4) Restore power to the city
5) Restore water supply to city
6) Restore sewer service
7) Let folks back in to do their thing.
8) Come up with long term plan to restore wetlands and natural hydrology to the region so this shit isn't so likely next time. This may mean letting the ol' Miss drain out the Atchafalaya River where it wants and needs to go, rather than the artificially maintained route past NO.

Oh, before #1 we need to rescue the living. Retrieving the dead should be going on very early in the process. Dead bodies in water is a nasty thing.

Just had to put this out in writing, more for my own psyche than to help anybody. I feel better now. Like I have done something useful (though I know I have not).

[norml]

3. Floodwaters carry with them a major threat of disease

Posted on Tue, Aug. 30, 2005


Floodwaters carry with them a major threat of disease

BY JACOB GOLDSTEIN AND FRED TASKER

Knight Ridder Newspapers


MIAMI - (KRT) - Flooding in New Orleans could cause major public health problems ranging from diarrhea to West Nile virus, experts said. But on Tuesday, beleaguered medical workers were struggling to keep patients alive.

Contaminated floodwaters can spread such bacteria as E. coli and salmonella, which can be fatal for the very young, the very old and others with weak immune systems, says Dr. Delia Rivera, an expert in infectious diseases at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

Experts said it could be several weeks before the floodwaters - contaminated with toxins including human feces, gasoline and chemicals from industrial sites - are pumped from the city.

Toxic chemicals in the water can cause skin rashes and other ailments, Rivera said.

But while flooding can potentially spread such epidemic-causing diseases as typhoid fever, cholera and leptospirosis, they are not likely to be a problem in the short term because they are not endemic in the United States.

A more serious medium-term risk, Rivera said, might be mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and West Nile virus.


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http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/nation/12519009.htm

[kestrel91316]

4. kestrel the veterinarian and microbiologist knows about the germs

:scared: :cry: