MEDIA ADVISORY

	Two nurses from the U.Va. Emergency Department will travel to
Haiti on
September 15 for a medical missionary trip to immunize children.  The
nurses, Julia Patsell and Lorrie Peyton, are part of a team that
includes
three emergency medical technicians and a volunteer.
	"Seventy-five percent of children in Haiti die before their
fifth
birthday," Patsell said. "And they have an infant mortality rate of 50
percent.  Many mothers will not name their babies until they're a year
old,
because so many die during infancy.  It's mainly due to dysentery and
lack
of
immunizations."
	Patsell's group hopes to immunize 2,000 children during the
two-week trip.The group also plans to educate people about the
importance
of boiling theirlater to kill the germs that cause dysentery. "I use a
portable microscope
to show people the bacteria that's in their water," she said. "Most
people
in Haiti can't understand the concept of germs without seeing them."
The group also will spend part of the trip holding clinics to provide
basic
health care services.
###
September 11, 1998
For more information, call Julia Patsell at 982-0206 (work) or 974-7129
(home).