- The global health agency attributes cholera incidences to a lack of safe water. Incidence rates can be made worse by unclean environments.
- Malnourished children and people with HIV are more likely to die of cholera because of their lower immunity.
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Four people were taken to Murang’a Level 5 Hospital with cholera-like symptoms on February 20.
The patients from Kayole and Mjini areas in Murang’a town tested positive for cholera and were treated at the facility.
Fearing an outbreak, county authorities banned food hawking in the town on February 24 in efforts to control spread.
It also advised residents to maintain high standards of hygiene, use safe drinking water and ensure food is prepared with utmost care.
What is cholera?
According to the World Health Organization, cholera is an acute infection occurring in the intestines and caused by eating Vibrio cholera bacteria found in food or water contaminated by stool.
The global health agency attributes cholera incidences to a lack of safe water. Incidence rates can be made worse by unclean environments.
In most severe cholera cases, patients pass watery diarrhoea, which can cause death by dehydration within hours if untreated.
It takes between 12 hours and five days for a person to show symptoms after ingesting contaminated food or water.
“About 75 per cent of people infected with cholera do not develop any symptoms. However, the pathogens stay in their faeces for seven to 14 days and are shed back into the environment, possibly infecting other individuals,” WHO says.
Malnourished children and people with HIV are more likely to die of cholera because of their lower immunity.
Tests and Treatment
Laboratory tests of stools can confirm infection with cholera bacteria. However, there are newer rapid diagnostic tests that can speed up the testing of patients at their bedside.
Treatment for cholera is by administering oral rehydration solution (ORS). This should be given as soon as possible. The WHO-Unicef oral rehydration sachet is dissolved in one litre of clean water and given to the patients.
Up to six litres of the ORS solution may be required by adult patients for the first day in case of moderate dehydration.
Patients with severe dehydration require intravenous fluids to regain their strength. They may also be put on antibiotics to reduce diarrhoea.
However, WHO warns against mass administration of antibiotics because it can lead to bacterial resistance. It recommends that ORS should be made available to communities in case of an outbreak.
Control
The WHO recommends that control efforts should aim to ensure deaths are kept below one per cent during an outbreak.
Because of the way it is transmitted – through contaminated food and water – the interventions first have to focus on improving sanitation.
The main tools for cholera control are: Timely treatment of confirmed cases, improving access to safe water and proper waste management and improved public information.
The decision by the Murang’a authorities to ban food hawking and advice extra hygiene safety was in line with these recommendations.
Prevention
Provision of clean and safe drinking water and better conditions of hygiene is the main prevention tool for cholera.
Equally important are education of communities on the importance of clean environments and good food hygiene.
Other simpler strategies like hand-washing with soap after visiting the toilet, before eating or cooking, also help.