Epidemiología de las diarreas en la frontera norte de México

Abstract

The high morbidity from diarrheal diseases on the northern frontier of Mexico is related, as it is in other areas, to environmental conditions. Major contributory factors are these: (a) high rate of population growth and difficulty in proving sanitation services at the same rate; (b) persistence of rural habits and lack of health education; and (c) introduction of habits copied from the United States population but with deficiencies in the preservation and handling of foodstuffs and, as a result, their contamination

The high mortality is related to the unsatisfactory "medical culture" of a large segment of the population who, moreover, seek medical care when it is too late. Although medical care systems have been organized and personnel and resources are available along the frontier, it seems that not only do they have insufficient resources, but they are inefficiently used

A survey should, therefore, be made to ascertain sanitation and medical care needs for undertaking programs for the health education of the public

In addition to expanding the sewer network to supply the remaining 58 percent of the population with efficient sanitary services, the population of the border towns must be induced to store garbage efficiently since failure to do so contributes to the propagation of flies and rodents(AU)