Barbados reporting increase in gastro cases

Health authorities are reporting an increase in gastrointestinal cases in Barbados.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness said the increase in cases in people older than five years moved from 27 in the week prior to April 27 to 34 cases at the end of that week. 

Previously, there were only 11 cases recorded.

It said that the alert level for this age group at this time of the year is less than six cases.

For children under five years old, the number of cases has moved from two to eight for the week ending April 27.

The ministry said that for the subset of cases tested, food-borne pathogens had been identified, both bacterial and viral, but no single source or event had been linked to the majority of cases.