Diarrhea Outbreak Investigation At Bulawayo Polytechnic College Zimbabwe 2014.

Diarrhea is the passing of three or more liquid stools in a period of 24hours. Bulawayo Polytechnic Clinic reported an outbreak of diarrhea cases that increased from 2cases to 55 cases in a period of 24hours and totaled to 157 cases in 6days. Objectives The objective of the study was to investigate the diarrhea outbreak at Bulawayo Polytechnic in Zimbabwe. A 11 unmatched case-control study was conducted from 05 June to 14 June 2014. Sample size was calculated using Epi-info package version 7. Simple random sampling was used to pick cases and controls from the list compiled by the investigator from clinic registers. A total of 82 cases and 82 controls were interviewed for the study. Acute diarrhea was significantly associated with drinking borehole water AOR 3.89 95 CI 0.3408-2.3128 not regularly washing hands with soap 1.35 95 CI 0.1603-0.7785 and frequent water shortages AOR 4.37 95 CI 0.1693-0.8279. To minimize risk of diarrheal cases and associated diseases the City Municipality should conduct frequent assessment of water quality at the college replace old water pipes with polyvinyl chloride pipes. Good hygiene practices should be encouraged to food handlers and food preparation facilities should constantly be checked for compliance of the required hygiene standards. The Bulawayo Municipality to ensure timely collection of refuse to avoid accumulation of rubbish in the bins.