Cholera deaths rising in Haiti

Sick victims and families receive treatment at St Nicolas Hospital in St Marc, north of Port-au-Prince in Haiti on October 24, 2010.

The number of people who have died in a cholera epidemic in Haiti has risen to more than 250.
Health experts say three-thousand have been infected, but fewer new diagnoses have been reported on Sunday.
Health officials in the capital Port au Prince fear the disease could spread rapidly through makeshift camps housing survivors of January's devastating earthquake.
The first confirmed cholera cases were detected in Port au Prince but doctors say the patients were quickly isolated.
Dr Koji Nakashima provides fluid to them via intravenous drips.
"The frightening thing about cholera is that it creates diarrhoea that is so rapid and it happens so fast people can die within hours," he said.
"They could be 4-5 hours into the disease, sometimes 12 hours profoundly dehydrated unconscious."
In the city of Saint-Marc where the majority of deaths have been recorded, there are long queues outside the main hospital.
Staff at the hospital have been working flat out since the outbreak became apparent last Wednesday.
Correspondents say most of the patients have come into Saint-Marc from across the Artibonite Valley, which received thousands of refugees after the earthquake.
Health officials say many people fell ill after drinking water from the Artibonite river.
On Friday, the health ministry confirmed the river has tested positive for cholera.
Haiti's President, Rene Preval, has promised that the government "will do whatever necessary to limit the impact".
Health officials are fearful about the outbreak spreading into the capital, where thousands of people are living in unsanitary conditions in refugee camps following the January 12 earthquake in which up to 300,000 people were killed.
Field hospitals are being set up in the country and medical supplies are being rushed in.
Aisha Bain, from the International Rescue Committee in Haiti, says more help may be needed.
"If the crisis grows into what we fear are the possibilities, with right conditions in Port-au-Prince there will be assistance needed," Ms Bain said.
"There are not enough medical supplies currently in the country to deal with what could be hundreds of thousands of cases.
"There are not enough medical staff to also deal with this crisis and not enough trained medical staff on top of that." (From ABC News)