News / Health
Harare braces for diarrhoea outbreak
21 Jan 2012 at 09:44hrs | Views
OVER 250 people from Kuwadzana 3 and 4 in Harare have been treated of severe diarrhoea while 40 critical cases have been admitted at the Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital. The city is preparing for a much bigger outbreak in all western suburbs.
City health officials are now on the ground in all western suburbs to avert a disaster as cases continue to be reported in Dzivarasekwa, Warren Park and Kambuzuma.
Acting town clerk, Dr Prosper Chonzi, told a special council meeting on Thursday that the people attended to from the suburbs were "much sicker and worse off" than cases attended to in the past few weeks.
He said the admitted patients would be detained for much longer to ensure they were properly treated and that they would not spread the disease to others.
"We have a huge outbreak in Kuwadzana 3 and 4. In the last three days we have attended to 250 patients. Forty have been admitted at the Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital.
"Those from Kuwadzana are much sicker. We have not yet isolated the cause. But we suspect this could be another outbreak of typhoid," he said.
Dr Chonzi said most of the patients are feverish and complain of abdominal pain.
The World Health Organisation has identified typhoid as a serious public health problem.
It is a common worldwide bacteria disease caused by the bacterium salmonella typhi.
He said the area was receiving a reliable water supply and the hygiene situation in terms of sewers was satisfactory.
He said the main challenge in the area was the vending of fish, raw and cooked meat.
He hinted the outbreak could be linked to the unhygienic vending of foodstuffs.
"We have to prepare the whole western suburbs, which are still free from the outbreak," he said.
Dr Chonzi said from the previous outbreak of typhoid, which the city was still battling with, 119 cases of suspected typhoid were attended to.
In November the city reported it had attended to over 500 cases mainly from Kuwadzana and Dzivarasekwa.
He said in December alone there were 400 cases of watery diarrhea in Warren Park.
City health officials are now on the ground in all western suburbs to avert a disaster as cases continue to be reported in Dzivarasekwa, Warren Park and Kambuzuma.
Acting town clerk, Dr Prosper Chonzi, told a special council meeting on Thursday that the people attended to from the suburbs were "much sicker and worse off" than cases attended to in the past few weeks.
He said the admitted patients would be detained for much longer to ensure they were properly treated and that they would not spread the disease to others.
"We have a huge outbreak in Kuwadzana 3 and 4. In the last three days we have attended to 250 patients. Forty have been admitted at the Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital.
"Those from Kuwadzana are much sicker. We have not yet isolated the cause. But we suspect this could be another outbreak of typhoid," he said.
Dr Chonzi said most of the patients are feverish and complain of abdominal pain.
The World Health Organisation has identified typhoid as a serious public health problem.
It is a common worldwide bacteria disease caused by the bacterium salmonella typhi.
He said the area was receiving a reliable water supply and the hygiene situation in terms of sewers was satisfactory.
He said the main challenge in the area was the vending of fish, raw and cooked meat.
He hinted the outbreak could be linked to the unhygienic vending of foodstuffs.
"We have to prepare the whole western suburbs, which are still free from the outbreak," he said.
Dr Chonzi said from the previous outbreak of typhoid, which the city was still battling with, 119 cases of suspected typhoid were attended to.
In November the city reported it had attended to over 500 cases mainly from Kuwadzana and Dzivarasekwa.
He said in December alone there were 400 cases of watery diarrhea in Warren Park.
Source - zimpapers
