WESTERN BUREAU – With potable piped water unavailable in large sections of the island because of the damage Hurricane Ivan wreaked on the National Water Commission’s system, the Ministry of Health yesterday urged members of the public to observe proper hygiene, warning that anything less might lead to infections such as gastroenteritis, Hepatitis A and typhoid.

These diseases are all spread through contamination of the water table. Running water has been restored to some areas, but the brown liquid that flows from the taps is far from potable. Many people in rural communities now rely on water from rivers and ponds and the ministry has warned that illnesses may result if foreign particles find their way into these supplies.

Gastro, or running belly, is caused by bacteria and symptoms include loose stool, usually accompanied by stomach pain.

Typhoid has similar symptoms while Hepatitis A, the inflammation of the liver, is spread through ingesting faeces-contaminated water.

According to public communications consultant in the Ministry of Health Shermaine Robothom-White, people who are using water from improper sources should add drops of bleach before drinking.

She has also advised members of the public to boil their water.”Make sure to use clean, safe water for cooking, especially for children. If they are going to get water from streams, make sure to purify the water before using it,” Robothom-White advised.

Any outbreak of intestinal diseases would be added strain on the stressed health care system that is slowly recovering from the effects of the category four storm that lashed the island between Friday and Saturday.

By Monday, water and electricity had been restored to the Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James, which had been using a generator and its tanks to get by.

“During the hurricane, the hospital operated from a generator that we have on the compound. At some point, the water that we had in the tanks ran out, but the (Ministry of Water’s) Rapid Response Unit was very responsive to the needs of the hospital and we never had any real problems,” said Western Regional Health Authority’s public relations officer Clinton Pickering.

The hospital, he said, had suffered minor damage during the hurricane. A section of the cafeteria’s wooden door was ripped off, a few panes of glass were smashed and strong winds blew water onto some of the floors. Pickering said there had been no patients in the areas at the time of the damage. “During the hurricane, the patients were removed to safer areas,” Pickering said.

The hospital’s out-patient clinic was closed indefinitely and according to Pickering an advisory would be issued to make the public aware of its reopening.

“During sometime this week, a decision would be made to determine when the clinic would be reopened to the public, but I anticipate that it would be some time very soon,” he said.

Patients who were moved to different areas of the hospital during Ivan’s passage are being returned to their designated floors. Among the patients that were removed for safety reasons were the ones staying on the psychiatric and the paediatric wards. Over the period of the hurricane, 150 patients were kept at the hospital. Upon the approach of Ivan, the hospital had advised relatives of patients who were fit enough to go home, to retrieve them.