Microbes Sample Clauses

Microbes. Communities in each Gadyen Dlo program region had heard that microbes were the cause of cholera and were at least somewhat aware that microbes can be found in both water and food. It was interesting that the relatively scientific term “microbe”, in Haitian-Kreyol “mikwob” was used in every FGD to describe water that was unsafe to drink or contaminated with cholera. This is probably a testament to either Gadyen Dlo’s trainings or more general public health prevention campaigns in Haiti. Many participants had a relatively advanced understanding of a microbe, calling it “a little parasite…that can multiply but you cannot control it” or describing how even clear water is “filled with microbes” that are “really small”. Almost all FGD participants thought of microbes as being something bad, a germ or sickness that caused a variety of illnesses including cholera, small things that could even cause death. Participants from all program regions talked about the importance of cooking food well and washing fruits/ vegetables in treated water before eating them in the prevention of cholera. A few groups even got more specific about the pathway the cholera microbe takes into the body. For example, the urban focus group of Boden in the Jolivert program region and ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ in the North program region both talked about the need for cholera to enter the mouth. A Boden participant talked about not touching anything because “your hand can take it to your mouth” (Boden, 71, P3). A male participant from the city of Basanblu even described the fecal-oral transmission of the cholera microbe: PM: The flies, they drop on the stool and go to the plates and utensils that people are using. That is a microbe that provokes that sickness. These people, they aren’t really able to take precautions.(Basanblu,70) Although Basanblu’s description of the cholera microbe’s pathway into the body was the most sophisticated of all the focus groups, most groups described hearing cholera prevention messages about being careful with food, water and hygiene because of microbes. Despite each Gadyen Dlo region receiving very similar cholera prevention messages, there was still a lot of doubt and confusion about the cholera microbe in most communities. For example, two different focus groups, Labutik in the Jolivert program region and Tibo in the North program region talked about cholera being a virus. The Labutik participant explained how the cholera virus persists inside a person: It is unclear from the ...