Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 26, 1991 TAG: 9103260452
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES HITE MEDICAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
"Twelve cases in less than a week. It's concerning me. It's going to require us to be very aggressive and stay on top of it," said Dr. Donald Stern, director of the Roanoke Health Department.
The spread of disease can be stopped by good hand-washing habits and by infected patients' being careful to limit contacts with other people, Stern said at a news conference Monday.
Victims suffer from diarrhea, fever, nausea, abdominal cramps and vomiting. Young children or the elderly can become severely dehydrated.
Stern urged anyone showing symptoms of the disease to see a physician and have stool samples tested to see if the bacteria that causes the disease - Shigella - is present.
It takes fewer than 50 Shigella bacteria to cause an infection, compared to thousands of bacteria needed to cause other diseases, Stern said.
The germ typically is spread when infected persons fail to clean their hands of feces. It can be transmitted by direct contact to the mouth or through food and drink.
The disease has been found at two day-care centers and one pre-school in Roanoke and at one day-care center in Botetourt County, health officials said. Five Roanoke elementary schools have pupils with the disease.
Of the 42 cases known to the Health Department, 14 are from infants and children through age 4; 14 are from children 5 to 17 years old; and 14 are in adults.
Roanoke usually has only one or two cases of bacterial dysentery a year, officials said.
by CNB