Tag Archives: fever

URGENT APPEAL – Passionist Clinic in Honduras Desperate for Medications

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St. Benedict’s Clinic in Tegucigalpa, Honduras is desperate for additional funding for medications as staff continue to treat an average of 200 patients a day while the dengue epidemic worsens.

Two days ago government sources in Honduras reported the deaths of six more people due to dengue, a disease that has claimed at least 50 victims so far this year.

According to a report by the National Commission on Certification of Dengue, five of the victims were between 15 and 21 years old and lived in Tegucigalpa.

During 2010 the deaths of 43 people have been confirmed, but another 10 deaths were reported, to be certified in the coming days.

According to official figures, the hospitals have received 33,628 cases of dengue fever and about 7,000 hemorrhagic variant suspects.

Sources at St. Benedict’s Clinic believe that the Honduran government is under-reporting the number of cases and deaths and that the actual numbers are higher. The epidemic is receiving little or no coverage in the international press. We are saddened to learn that employees of St. Benedict’s have lost family members to the disease.

According to the World Health Organization, Dengue is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito infected with any one of the four dengue viruses. Symptoms appear 3—14 days after the infective bite. Dengue fever affects infants, young children and adults.

Symptoms range from a mild fever, to incapacitating high fever, with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and rash. There are no specific antiviral medicines for dengue. Doctors at St. Benedict’s treat dengue with acetaminophen, IV fluids for hydration and antibiotics to prevent secondary infections.

Dengue haemorrhagic fever (fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, bleeding) is a potentially lethal complication, affecting mainly children.

The situation looks to get worse before it get’s better. In the coming months, when the rains will be more constant and intense, there will be more breeding grounds for the mosquitos that carry the disease.

The Honduran government has developed a program of spraying in 20 areas of the capital and has urged citizens to eliminate as many sources of standing water as possible.

There is a series of photos taken at St. Benedicts on July 26 at: http://www.thepassionists.org/St_Benedicts_Clinic.html

Please consider an emergency donation to purchase medications for St. Benedict’s Clinic. Please make checks payable to PASSIONIST MISSIONARIES.

Passionist Missionaries Inc.
526 Monastery Place
Union City NJ 07087-3398
Tel: 888/806-6606
E-mail: DLisotta@cpprov.org

Donate on-line by clicking the button below.
The Donate Now button will redirect you to Caring Habits, Inc. (CHI) which is the credit card processing company for The Passionist Missionaries website.



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St. Benedict’s Clinic Responds to Dengue Outbreak

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A patient with Dengue. He is receiving IV fluids at the clinic as there is insufficient capacity at the hospital.

These photos were taken today at St. Benedict’s, the Passionist sponsored clinic in Tegucigalpa, Honduras where the state of emergency due to the dengue fever epidemic continues. At least 13 people have died and 10,200 others have been hit by the disease. Health Minister Arturo Bendana said that of the total reported dengue fever cases, 476 were of the hemorrhagic type. Both staff and patients are grateful for the generosity of our donors who have made it possible for the clinic to provide free medications to those who need them.

Honduran President Porfirio Lobo is leading a nation-wide campaign aimed at eradicating the mosquitos, which are the carriers of the disease. All public offices are clearing areas of still water in their vicinity.

Please consider a donation to help the Passionists in their ministry to people living in poverty: Please make checks payable to PASSIONIST MISSIONARIES.

Passionist Missionaries Inc.
526 Monastery Place
Union City NJ 07087-3398
Tel: 888/806-6606
E-mail: DLisotta@cpprov.org

Donate on-line by clicking the button below.
The Donate Now button will redirect you to Caring Habits, Inc. (CHI) which is the credit card processing company for The Passionist Missionaries website.


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Dengue Fever Swamps Clinic in Honduras

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Dr. Elliot Casey, Medical Director of St. Benedict’s Clinic in Honduras reported this morning that the epidemic of dengue is ongoing and the government has elevated the level of concern to the highest level or emergency. He thinks that there have been 22,000 cases with 26 deaths. The public and private hospitals are overwhelmed. The outbreak is stressing the limited resources of the government and the hospitals. The clinic is trying to pick up some of the slack and help by working longer and weekends. Because they were prepared and have medicines that many of the other clinics don’t have they are worried about their ability to meet all of their anticipated needs.

Dengue (or “breakbone”) fever, is a disease that is characterized by high fever, rash, and severe headache with aching bones, joints, and muscles. Dengue and its deadly complications, dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome, have increased over the past several decades. Global warming has substantially increased the number of people at risk of dengue epidemics, as warmer temperatures and changing rainfall conditions expand both the area suitable for mosquitoes and the length of the dengue transmission season in temperate areas.

Currently, dengue fever and its complications cause an estimated 50 to 100 million infections, a half-million hospitalizations, and 22,000 deaths annually in more than 100 countries, including parts of South America, Central America, the Caribbean, India, Southeast Asia, and Africa. By 2085, an estimated 5.2 billion people—3 billion additional people worldwide—are projected to be at risk for dengue because of climate change–induced increases in humidity that contribute to increased mosquito presence.

Please consider a donation to help the Passionists in their ministry to people living in poverty: Please make checks payable to PASSIONIST MISSIONARIES.

Passionist Missionaries Inc.
526 Monastery Place
Union City NJ 07087-3398
Tel: 888/806-6606
E-mail: DLisotta@cpprov.org

Donate on-line by clicking the button below.
The Donate Now button will redirect you to Caring Habits, Inc. (CHI) which is the credit card processing company for The Passionist Missionaries website.


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Update from St. Benedict’s Clinic in Tegucigalpa, Honduras

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Medicines from Europe being delivered to the clinic

We have just received this update from the Dr. Casey, the Medical Director of our clinic in Honduras.

“Things have been rather hectic in Honduras with an outbreak of dengue fever. Because of the grant we are able to manage well the needs of the people that we serve as well as some others who are coming to us because they know we have medicines and the other clinics don’t.”

The medicines were purchased from a grant of $15,000  that was obtained from the Catholic Human Services Foundation located in New Jersey.

St. Benedict’s Clinic in Tegucigalpa serves more than 45,000 women, men and children a year bringing the most modern and efficient medical treatment to poor families in the nation’s capital, a sprawling city of millions.

Please consider a donation to help the Passionists in their ministry to people living in poverty: Please make checks payable to PASSIONIST MISSIONARIES.

Passionist Missionaries Inc.
526 Monastery Place
Union City NJ 07087-3398
Tel: 888/806-6606
E-mail: DLisotta@cpprov.org

Donate on-line by clicking the button below.
The Donate Now button will redirect you to Caring Habits, Inc. (CHI) which is the credit card processing company for The Passionist Missionaries website.


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