Affiliation:
1. International Committee of the Red Cross, 19 Avenue de la Paix, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Abstract
The International Committee of the Red Cross investigated an outbreak of beri-beri in a prison in West Africa. Twenty-five prisoners out of a total of 1020 died over a period of 11 weeks — exceeding the crude mortality rate of 1/10 000/day, a threshold for serious concern. Two hundred and eleven prisoners had clinical signs of beri-beri. An immediate response to treatment with thiamine was seen and no further deaths occurred. The triad of a positive squatting test, oedema and a diet consisting exclusively of white rice should lead to the diagnosis of beri-beri. The disease is more common than generally assumed, also in Africa and especially in prisons.
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Reference11 articles.
1. Epidemic typhus in a prison in Burundi
2. Cook GC. Manson's Tropical Diseases, 20th edn. London: WB Saunders, 1996:456.
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