Community participation in a diarrhoeal outbreak: a case study

An account is presented of how a diarrhoeal disease outbreak was combatted by a community in a remote area of southern Bangladesh. Temporary treatment centres were set up in epidemic areas, and large numbers of patients used those facilities. Government health personnel cooperated with the community, which mobilized all available resources in an effort to forestall a catastroph. The case fatality rate at the treatment centres was reported to be 1.4%. Ninety-three percent of patients came from a radius of three km or less. From this experience, it may be concluded that increased community efforts and involvement are effective long-term means of controlling diarrhoeal diseases.