Suspected cholera cases recorded in Manicaland

13 Jan, 2023 - 00:01 0 Views
Suspected cholera cases recorded in Manicaland Cases of cholera are being worsened by community acts of resistance against recommended precautionary measures

The ManicaPost

 

Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter

MANICALAND recently recorded seven suspected cholera cases, amid the disease’s current outbreak in Malawi, the acting Provincial Medical Director, Dr Munyaradzi Mukuzunga has revealed.

Dr Mukuzunga said the suspected cases turned out not to be cholera after samples were tested.

He said other suspected cases were previously reported in Chiredzi and Bindura.

To prevent the spread of the disease, Dr Mukuzunga said the Ministry of Health and Child Care has put in place capacitated surveillance teams in communities and health facilities who are on the lookout of the disease.

He said the reporting of the suspected cases proved that the surveillance teams are up to the task and that the province will be able to contain the disease if it is imported into the country from Malawi.

“Malawi has reported several cholera cases and deaths. It is one of the countries which we interact with regularly. We should be alert at all times when it comes to the disease.

“This showed us that our teams in terms of surveillance are really up to the task. We have positioned equipment like testing kits in strategic areas which we know that they are at high risks of outbreaks of the disease,” he said.

He encouraged people to watch out for cholera symptoms and visit their nearest health facilities as soon as they develop symptoms.

“Diarrhoea is one of the major symptoms of cholera and we are encouraging that when one has it, they should report to their nearest health facility. Cholera symptoms include watery diarrhoea which is very frequent, it is also associated with vomiting, it causes rapid dehydration and loss of energy. It is best that you receive medical assistance urgently or make a salt and sugar solution or use oral rehydration fluids,” he said.

Dr Mukuzunga encouraged those in rural areas to engage village health workers after orally rehydrating themselves by taking fluids.

He said cholera is contracted by eating food or drinking water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera and that it can affect children and adults, causing severe diarrhoea.

Cholera can kill within hours if left untreated.

Malawi suspended the opening of schools in major cities of Lilongwe and Blantyre following the deadly cholera outbreak that killed 19 people on New Year’s Day alone.

The outbreak has so far killed more than 650 people in the country after the outbreak was reported in March last year.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control says it is concerned about the rise in cholera deaths in Malawi, which it attributes to patients not getting treatment on time.

 

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