Culture: un cultivo, la cultura

According to www.dictionary.reference.com (an obviously reputable source), when used a verb culture can be defined as: to grow (microorganisms, tissues, etc) in or on a controlled or defined medium. I started thinking about the definition of the word when I realized that in Spanish, cultures of microorganisms are called cultivos, while culture of a place is called la cultura. Although the two concepts are separate words in Spanish, I think that English may actually have the right idea this time around.

The culture of Estero

de Plátano is something that has also grown in a defined medium. Flanked on on either side by cliffs and facing the ocean, Estero is a small, defined environment. Most families living in Estero have lived there for generations, growing together and developing a culture, norms, alliances, enemies, and a whole complica

ted network of understandings and assumptions. Some of this culture is what you might expect, like a love of seafood and Bachata music. But other things come as a surprise, such as the general acceptance of transsexuals in a small, rural community in Ecuador.

In comparison, my water cultures are pretty unimpressive. My 48 hours

of coliform growth are pretty simple to understand, even though I had too many coliforms to get a good count. Everything came out pretty much as expe

cted, with no big surprises. And I guess that's the nice thing about bacteria.... they pretty much do what you expect them to do, which brings me to my point (I know, you've been waiting for a point).

This time around in the community, I was much happier with my water cultures than the community culture itself. My water cultures were done in 48 hours and they did exactly what I wanted them to do. Estero's culture, however, proved rather more challenging. Yanapuma has been attempting to install a water purification system in Estero for years. A few months ago, with the help of another NGO in the area, it was finally accomplished. People in the community can now buy 20 liters of water for 25 cents instead of the typical cost of $1.00 or $1.25. The one little hitch? That the people in the community aren't buying the water. The director of the system gets paid from sales, so she isn't getting paid. In short, if we can't get people on board with the water, the system won't be able to stay functional. Why aren't the people buying the water, you might ask? The overwhelming answer is that they don't like the taste, although I personally think it has more to do with cultural norms and distrust of new things.

But don't lose hope, my dear readers! Despite my frustration, I am dedicated to do everything possible to get people on board and make this system sustainable. It's slow going, but well worth the effort. In other news, I made this video about our scholarship students in the community and I have to say it makes me super happy, and hopefully you'll enjoy it as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meufO_aMSgA

Outbreak Investigation: Ecua Stomach

This blog post is going to be a special treat for all of my Infectious Disease Epidemiology friends (lemurs, if you will). I have prepared an outbreak investigation about my recent bout of Ecua Stomach, which happened to be the worst I've experienced.

In Ecuador, the Day of the Child (Día de los Niños) is a pretty big deal. As a result, I spent the morning in a party for the children of Estero de Plátano, which happened to include a cake. The cake was left out for about 3 hours before we ate it, and probably longer than that since it had to get to Estero from Atacames. Regardless, I have a pretty cavalier attitude about the strength of my stomach and I ate it anyway. Sometime after dinner, I begin to hear the stomach rumblings that signaled trouble on the way. Early the next morning, the worst case of Ecua Stomach I've ever had began.

My philosophy on Ecua Stomach has always been that you just have to let these things run their course. At Day 3, my philosophy changed and I was ready to try anything. Unfortunately, Day 3 was a Saturday and the Health Subcenter wouldn't be open again until Tuesday. So I took some random pill that I bought from a tienda. Which sort of worked, but not really. Next, I submitted myself to an especially interesting cure: having an egg rolled all around my body and being crossed. At which point the egg is cracked and put in a cup of water to see how much of the sickness it pulled out of my body. Surprisingly, this remedy also failed.

On Tuesday, Day 6, I went to the Health Subcenter where I was given some random pills that I had never heard of and some rehydration powder to mix with water. I don't know what the pills were, but they worked. Finally. After 6 days of becoming very well acquainted with the bathroom in our hostel, I felt like a person again. And now I'll know better than to be overly smug with my "stomach of steel."

So, my faithful IDEpi folks, what did I have? Assuming it was the cake that did me in, I would put the incubation period at about 6 or 7 hours. I would guess I was probably headed toward the end of my symptoms by the time I took the pills, so duration of about 6 to 7 days. The fruit on the cake may have been the actual culprit, or it may have been your typical fecal-oral contamination through little kids touching the cake while they desperately tried to wait 3 hours to eat it. I await your answers.