Selene Velasco/ Agencia Reforma
viernes, 07 april 2023 | 06:24
CDMX.- The hot season increases up to three times on average the risk of suffering from gastrointestinal illnesses, which is why experts in Health in Mexico City recommend increasing personal and food hygiene, and avoiding the consumption of dubious handling products so as not to spread illnesses .
During the period in which the scarcity of potable water, contamination and high temperatures are combined and aggravated, each day a 10 per cent more is received from children under five years of age for consultations due to gastroenteritis and up to 30 per cent more rest of the population.
That’s how it is explained by Gemma Anahí Chícharo Ávila, pediatric infectologist at Hospital Pediátrico La Villa, from the Secretaría de Salud de la CDMX (Sedesa).
Yes, fish and shellfish are the most risky and frequent foods that cause these illnesses, explains the infectologist, they are not the only ones.
Others that concern the medical staff, as they are recurrent in causing affectations, he explains, are fruits and vegetables.
We recommend washing and disinfection
For this reason, it is necessary to wash with water and soap, in addition to disinfecting properly, he emphasizes. If they are found in the street, be warned, they should be avoided, as signs, their handling and exposure to bacteria, parasites, viruses and heat are unknown, so it would not be possible to know if they are products that will not cause harm.
Fried or cooked meats are less risky and if there is any outbreak of gastroenteritis in established places, he emphasizes, it should be denounced and closed, although it abounds, it is less common than in streets.
The symptoms of a gastrointestinal illness, explains the infectologist, are diarrhea, which occurs more than three times in 24 hours, accompanied by generalized colic-type abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea and fever, on some occasions.
Even though it can be mild cases, he emphasizes, you should go to the doctor immediately, it could worsen the condition depending on the microorganism that caused the illness.
“One of the main consequences is dehydration and that is what puts us in danger”, says Chicharo.
Children under five years old are more vulnerable, in less than a day their health can deteriorate, become dehydrated and end up hospitalized, warns the expert.
In case of illness, the basic recommendations of the infectologist are extreme hygiene with the rest of people with whom you live, because it is highly contagious, fecal-oral; rest and isolation until you recover.
