[ 2014-09-02 ]

Cholera: Gov't requests oral vaccines from WHO to break transmission
Government has initiated discussions with the
World Health Organisation for the introduction of
vaccines to bring the outbreak of the cholera
disease in the country under control.

Health facilities are currently struggling to
contain the outbreak of the epidemic which has so
far claimed 92 lives from over 10,000 reported
cases in just three months. The disease has now
spread to 52 districts across seven regions of the
country, excluding the three northern regions-
Northern, Upper East and Upper West.

But Deputy Health Minister, Victor Bampoe
disclosed on the Super Morning Show on Joy FM,
Tuesday, government is determined to ensure that
rate of transmission is considerably brought under
control through the introduction of the oral
cholera vaccine.

“We've asked the WHO to do a rapid assessment to
see whether we can use the cholera vaccine to
break the back of this epidemic,” Dr. Bampoe
told Kojo Yankson, host of the Show.

The Deputy Minister added: “What we are thinking
of is because it has not affected the three
northern-most regions, can we make the vaccines to
create a barrier so it doesn't go up or can we use
the vaccines in areas that they have a great
endemicity so that we can actually strategically
vaccinate some people and break this
transmission”.

He stated it is “clearly unacceptable” for
people to be dying of a disease that “should not
be with us in 2014”.

Dr. Bampoe assured: “The Ministry of Health,
working with other sectors will ensure that we
break this transmission because it's not something
that in 2014 should be with us”.

“We probably would see more cases but the most
important thing is to control it…whatever needs
to be done would be done to ensure that we dampen
it out,” he said.


Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine
caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.

The main symptoms are watery diarrhea and
vomiting. This may result in dehydration and in
severe cases grayish-bluish skin. Transmission
occurs primarily by drinking water or eating food
that has been contaminated by the faeces (waste
product) of an infected person, including one with
no apparent symptoms.

The severity of the diarrhea and vomiting can lead
to rapid dehydration and electrolyte imbalance,
and death in some cases. The primary treatment is
oral rehydration therapy, typically with oral
rehydration solution, to replace water and
electrolytes.

If this is not tolerated or does not provide
improvement fast enough, intravenous fluids can
also be used. Antibacterial drugs are beneficial
in those with severe disease to shorten its
duration and severity.

Worldwide, it affects 3–5 million people and
causes 100,000–130,000 deaths a year as of 2010.

Source - MyjoyOnline

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