News / Health
Zim hit by a serious outbreak of typhoid
17 Nov 2011 at 05:47hrs | Views
An outbreak of typhoid has hit the country with more than 200 cases having been reported as of yesterday.
A total of 207 cases had passed through their units and that 36 people were currently admitted at the Beatrice Road infectious disease unit.
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid,is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the faeces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi.
The bacteria then perforate through the intestinal wall and are phagocytosed by macrophages. The organism is a Gram-negative short bacillus that is motile due to its peritrichous flagella. The bacterium grows best at 37°C / 98.6°F – human body temperature.
Harare City Council Director of Health, Dr Prosper Chonzi said "It's a crisis and we have raised the alert ban to red".
"Basically people are drinking their own faeces in places like Dzivaresekwa and as I speak to you, we have dispatched a team to Mabvuku where suspected cases of typhoid have been reported," Chonzi added.
In Dzivaresekwa where the outbreak began, tests carried out at most shallow and makeshift wells where people frequently fetched water, came out positive.
The outbreak comes at a time when the disease is likely to spread due to the rainy season which has just started.
Chonzi who said they had not been any deaths reported since the outbreak a month ago, highlighted the need to move with speed to avoid a case similar to the cholera outbreak in 2009 which claimed thousands of people.
Unicef Zimbabwe, which spearheaded the fight against rapid spread of cholera in the country in 2009, is set to end its assistance programme next year and has notified the relevant authorities of their move.
Asked about Unicef's intentions seeing that the water situation had improved, Chonzi said that he had actually held meetings with them earlier in the day and requested for clean water truck deliveries to resume in affected areas.
Sixty-two-year-old patient Magline Makotese from Dzivaresekwa who is admitted at the Hospital spoke to the Daily News and narrated how she began experiencing abdominal pains and was rushed to the hospital on Monday morning.
Patients admitted at the hospital were mainly young women and children, though even the elderly were not spared either.
On a positive note, Chonzi did however, state that they had adequate drugs to deal with the outbreak but was quick to discourage public gatherings if possible.
He encouraged public awareness campaigns aimed at fighting the outbreak.
A total of 207 cases had passed through their units and that 36 people were currently admitted at the Beatrice Road infectious disease unit.
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid,is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the faeces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi.
The bacteria then perforate through the intestinal wall and are phagocytosed by macrophages. The organism is a Gram-negative short bacillus that is motile due to its peritrichous flagella. The bacterium grows best at 37°C / 98.6°F – human body temperature.
Harare City Council Director of Health, Dr Prosper Chonzi said "It's a crisis and we have raised the alert ban to red".
"Basically people are drinking their own faeces in places like Dzivaresekwa and as I speak to you, we have dispatched a team to Mabvuku where suspected cases of typhoid have been reported," Chonzi added.
In Dzivaresekwa where the outbreak began, tests carried out at most shallow and makeshift wells where people frequently fetched water, came out positive.
The outbreak comes at a time when the disease is likely to spread due to the rainy season which has just started.
Chonzi who said they had not been any deaths reported since the outbreak a month ago, highlighted the need to move with speed to avoid a case similar to the cholera outbreak in 2009 which claimed thousands of people.
Unicef Zimbabwe, which spearheaded the fight against rapid spread of cholera in the country in 2009, is set to end its assistance programme next year and has notified the relevant authorities of their move.
Asked about Unicef's intentions seeing that the water situation had improved, Chonzi said that he had actually held meetings with them earlier in the day and requested for clean water truck deliveries to resume in affected areas.
Sixty-two-year-old patient Magline Makotese from Dzivaresekwa who is admitted at the Hospital spoke to the Daily News and narrated how she began experiencing abdominal pains and was rushed to the hospital on Monday morning.
Patients admitted at the hospital were mainly young women and children, though even the elderly were not spared either.
On a positive note, Chonzi did however, state that they had adequate drugs to deal with the outbreak but was quick to discourage public gatherings if possible.
He encouraged public awareness campaigns aimed at fighting the outbreak.
Source - Daily News
