While Japan’s recent earthquake and tsunami have appropriately captured the world’s attention, an earthquake that took over a year ago has continued to produce devastation in another hemisphere. Haiti’s earthquake of January 2010 shattered the country’s already-weak water and sewage infrastructure, and in October 2010, cholera (a bacterial illness spread by contaminated water) was reported in the country for the first time in more than 100 years. Within weeks, the disease had been identified in every one of Haiti’s provinces; by the end of the year, more than 150,000 cases and 3,500 deaths had been reported. Although the cholera epidemic has fallen from public view, the epidemic continues to rage on.
There’s been increasing controversy about what to do in response to the persisting epidemic. Should we distribute vaccines, even though the epidemic has already started? Are antibiotics useful, even though the classical medical textbooks say that hydration alone should be sufficient to avert death? Are clean water provisions sufficient? And, of course, how much money do we need for all of this?
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