Toddler’s death raises suspicions of dysentery in parts of Lae

A TODDLER has died from suspected dysentery at Banana Block
settlement along Cassowary Road in Lae, Morobe.
A nurse at the Seventh Street Clinic, who refused to disclose her name, said yesterday that there was a disease outbreak in the area with a number of patients already diagnosed.
It is understood people at the Banana Block and the settlement across the Bumbu River were affected by the outbreak.
The National visited the clinic on Thursday but was told by the nurse: “You are from the media and I cannot disclose any information as yet until our clinical team confirms the disease and the cause of death”.
“But, yes, we have diagnosed a couple of patients throughout the week,” she said.
However, Morobe provincial health adviser Micah Yawing said that they had yet to receive the report from the Lae district health office to engage the disease control unit under Dr Edwin Benny to verify the situation.
Community leader John Poroda said that Ward Two councillor Carol Yawing and officers would meet with the settlers to address their plight at the council chamber tomorrow.
Poroda said that dysentery, typhoid and cholera were life-threatening diseases and the situation at Banana Block required urgent intervention from health authorities to prevent disease from spreading to nearby communities.