Northern delivery

There is an epidemic of intestinal infection in the Magadan region

Baby food in Russian kindergartens, schools and camps poses a constant threat both in the summer heat and in 20-degree frost. The only difference is that in the unsanitary conditions of the canteens of children's institutions in the warm season, bacteria (most often those that cause dysentery) multiply better, and in the cold - viruses. Yesterday it became known about another case of mass infection of three-year-old children in kindergartens in Magadan and the Magadan region. According to local authorities, yesterday there were already more than 200 patients in hospitals with symptoms of acute intestinal infection. All infectious diseases departments in the city are currently overcrowded, but patients continue to arrive. Sick children are brought to hospitals by their parents who have become infected. Whole families get sick.

“145 of the cases were children under 14 years of age. In 61%, the disease occurs in a mild form, 39% are moderate cases,” the country’s chief sanitary doctor Gennady Onishchenko clarified the information. It is worth noting that more than 50 of the sick people are parents of children who received rotavirus (doctors assume that it was the cause of the disease) through airborne droplets. All patients have a high temperature, up to 40 degrees, and acute abdominal pain. “The disease in young children is severe. The infection severely dehydrates their body. All of them absolutely require hospital treatment,” said Commissioner for Children’s Rights under the President of Russia Pavel Astakhov , who was actively involved in the analysis of the situation.

The cause of the infection, doctors believe, could have been dirty or poorly washed apples, citrus fruits and bananas, which were given to children in kindergartens the day before. “On the peel of apples, tangerines, oranges, and bananas, pathogens were found that led to diseases,” the human rights activist said. Presumably all the fruits were imported to Russia from China. Until spring, other fresh produce is usually not imported to Kolyma. “It is obvious that in the situation with the poisoning of children in the Magadan region, adults are primarily to blame for not ensuring proper control over fruits imported to Russia,” Pavel Astakhov is sure and proposes to ban the import of all similar products from China until the circumstances of the incident are clarified.

The proposal has not yet found support from Gennady Onishchenko, who usually does not delay making such decisions. “We will look into it and report the results. So far, nothing has been detected on fruits, as well as on milk and water. The survey method showed that the majority noted a deterioration after eating citrus fruits, bananas, apples and pears. Research continues,” explained Mr. Onishchenko, speaking to reporters yesterday. According to him, this year in the Magadan region the incidence of intestinal infections corresponds to the long-term level, although it is slightly higher than last year.

Now in kindergartens in the region, all vegetables and fruits are soaked in several disinfecting solutions, since rotavirus is usually found on the peel and cannot be washed off with just water. He doesn't care for bleach either. As well as sub-zero temperatures, which it tolerates well. In addition, a special procedure for admitting children to preschool institutions has been introduced. “In the morning, the children are seen by the head nurse. She conducts an examination, checks the pharynx, and measures the temperature. We have a thermometer for each child. If there is a fever, then we remove such children from kindergarten,” said the director of one of the Magadan kindergartens, Klara Berezhnaya.

At the same time, the regional department of Rospotrebnadzor is trying to establish the causes of the infectious outbreak. According to the latest data, the virus continues to be actively transmitted through airborne droplets. Even if the source of the current outbreak is eliminated, the infection will not subside until spring, infectious disease experts believe, when vegetables and fruits from Russia begin to arrive in Kolyma.

Galina PAPERNAYA