Filenews 18 July 2023 - by Marilena Panayia
It fills ambulances and Accident and Emergency Departments in the summer, while doctors and especially gastroenterologists continue to serve cases of gastroenteritis, which are due to three different factors.
As the gastroenterologist – hepatologist George Potamitis explained to "F", "in the past weeks we saw cases of viral gastroenteritis, which mainly concerned children. These incidents continue, but now cases of food poisoning have been added.
These are people who consume food that is not properly managed in conditions of high temperatures. They are altered and depending on how prone an organism is, we see the symptoms." Finally, "we have citizens who travel to mainly Asian countries, consume food and drink where there are germs to which we as a people are not accustomed and upon their return they present the relevant symptoms."
It is particularly important, said Mr. Potamitis, "to pay great attention to what we consume and with regard to microbial gastroenteritis concerning citizens who did not leave Cyprus, we must reiterate that no food can remain in the sun for too long. It is dangerous to our health when we consume it."
As far as hospitals are concerned, as SHSO spokesman Charalambos Charilaou told "F", "in the last week we began to observe an increase in the number of citizens coming to the Emergency Departments for service.
The incidents concern all those that we usually observe during the summer months: sunstroke, heat exhaustion, gastroenteritis, accidents on the beach or elsewhere, etc. and what we see is that fortunately these people receive first aid and return to their homes without having to be admitted to a ward."
In the summer, he also alerted the ambulance service, which is called to respond daily to calls mainly concerning injuries during water sports, dangerous stings by sea urchins etc. at sea and accidents on the mountain. "We also observe that we have a number of people who consume large amounts of alcohol and need to be transferred to the emergency room," the head of the ambulance service, Rihanna Constantinou, told F, adding that "we also have some serious cases of heat stroke, but most of them are in the context of what we face every summer."
