{"id":23978,"date":"2024-06-19T09:24:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T16:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/?p=23978"},"modified":"2024-06-24T18:25:38","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T01:25:38","slug":"spread-of-shigella","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/spread-of-shigella\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa Clara County Addresses Shigella Spread in Homeless Encampments"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"shigella
The spread of Shigella reaches homeless camps, where the Shigella bacteria cause vomiting and diarrhea, which are often bloody. It is transmitted when people put anything that has been in contact with infected feces into their mouths, such as shaking a contaminated hand and then using it to eat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Joyce Chu. San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Listen to this note:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Viviana-4378212.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

A bacterial outbreak has emerged among homeless people living in San Jose encampments at Columbus and Roosevelt parks, but health officials say the risk to the general public is low.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three confirmed cases of Shigella, a highly contagious intestinal bacteria, were identified between June 3 and June 17. Two people have been hospitalized and four people are being evaluated. There are 19 suspected cases linked to the same outbreak.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shigella bacteria cause vomiting and diarrhea, which is often bloody. It is spread when people put anything that has been in contact with infected feces into their mouths, such as shaking a contaminated hand and then using it to eat. People can also get the disease by drinking contaminated water.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s concerning about this outbreak is not the absolute number. We see cases of Shigella on a regular basis,\u201d said Dr. Monika Roy, a health assistant with the county Department of Public Health, on Tuesday. \u201cWhat\u2019s more concerning is the number that are related to each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mild cases of Shigella usually clear up within a week. Antibiotics may be prescribed if necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Santa Clara County first learned of the Shigella cases after those hospitalized were tested.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Columbus and Roosevelt parks are located along waterways, the former on the Guadalupe River and the latter on Coyote Creek.<\/span><\/p>\n

Roy told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight that the county is testing people along the waterways for the disease. Of those with confirmed and suspected cases, most did not live along the river. However, they have not tested the rivers and streams to see if there has been contamination.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, our strategy is really focused on preventing the spread,\u201d Roy said. \u201cTesting will not provide conclusive or definitive results on either the cause or the control mechanism.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a potential for Shigella to spread through waterways and contaminate other people who use the streams, Roy said, so the focus is on providing safe, sanitary water so people don't need to use the streams.<\/span><\/p>\n

To prevent the spread of Shigella, San Jose is increasing the number of portable toilets and handwashing stations at both locations and cleaning the stations regularly. The city will also provide drinking and washing water. The county public health department has deployed teams to distribute test kits at suspected encampments and to continue testing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to follow any guidance or direction from public health or law enforcement and experts on this, and provide all services and support our unhoused residents need to ensure their safety and that of the community,\u201d San Jose Deputy City Manager Harkness said.<\/span><\/p>\n

San Jose has 6,340 unhoused residents, 4,411 of whom are living on the streets, along rivers or in tents, according to the county\u2019s 2023 biennial homeless count. This number doesn\u2019t show the full picture of homelessness in the city, as it only measures people who experience homelessness on a single night. The survey is often considered an undercount.<\/span><\/p>\n

To prevent future outbreaks among homeless people, Harkness said the city is working to build up its housing capacity in the coming years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a goal of about 1,200 units in terms of shelter and we\u2019re committed to doing that over the next 12 months,\u201d Harkness told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cAnd we want to get people out of unhealthy and unsafe conditions. We want to give them a better alternative.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read the original note giving <\/span>Click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You may be interested in:<\/strong> Medi-Cal adds maternal health care as one of its basic services<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Por Joyce Chu. San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. Escucha esta nota:   Ha surgido un brote bacteriano entre personas sin hogar que viven en campamentos de San Jos\u00e9 en los parques Columbus y Roosevelt, pero los funcionarios de salud dicen que el riesgo para el p\u00fablico en general es bajo. Entre el 3 y el 17 de […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":23980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,306],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"category-santa-clara"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23978"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24049,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23978\/revisions\/24049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}