Floods spark off cholera
Mar 15, 2010
IN the isolation ward of Manafwa Hospital, Irene Namasaba, 52, vomits uncontrollably. She is frail and looks dehydrated. The number of times she has passed watery stool is countless.
By Frederick Womakuyu
IN the isolation ward of Manafwa Hospital, Irene Namasaba, 52, vomits uncontrollably. She is frail and looks dehydrated. The number of times she has passed watery stool is countless.
Medical experts say these are tell-tale signs of cholera, a serious infectious disease caused by the bacteria vibrio cholerae, which affect the intestines.
The hospital is in Manafwa district which borders Bududa, an area that was recently ravaged by landslides that left hundreds of people dead and thousands displaced. Sanitary conditions in this eastern part of the country, about 450km from the capital city, Kampala, are appalling due to heavy rains, floods and lack of latrines.
Dr. Josen Kiggundu, the Manafwa district health officer, says about 86 people in seven sub-counties have been diagnosed with cholera. Three people are confirmed dead and over 200,000 are at risk of contracting the deadly disease.
He explains that they started receiving suspected cases of cholera in January after the heavy downpour that flooded the area, submerging pit latrines and causing the banks of River Manafwa to burst.
“People were coming from Manafwa Town Council to the health facility with severe vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration. When we tested samples of stool from 10 people, eight of them had cholera,†Kiggundu explains.
Kiggundu says they isolated the patients and informed the health ministry and World Health Organisation, which put the district on high alert for cholera.
He adds that they received more cases from the sub-counties of Namabya, Magale, Sibyanga and Bukusu. Others came from Bubutu, Bumbo and Bumooni sub-counties. “We are receiving about two cases per day from different sub-counties. The number is sporadic and accumulates everyday,†Kiggundu adds.
Contaminated food
Cholera is contagious. It spreads by consumption of food or water that is contaminated with faecal matter. It can also spread through human-to-human contact. Some people have been infected after eating raw or undercooked food.
Kiggundu says people are eating contaminated food and drinking contaminated water as a result of floods brought about by the heavy downpour.
They are also living under poor sanitary conditions due to poverty and lack of resources.
Toilet coverage in the district is at about 45% and only 55% of the people have proper sanitation. “People defecate in open places like bushes and along water shores. Rain water washes the waste into the water sources where people draw water for domestic use,†Kiggundu says.
He says people are eating half-cooked food like fish, which exposes them to cholera germs. “The victims are mainly children under the age of five. They are supposed to be fed on milk and other liquid food that is well cooked,†he says.
He adds that River Manafwa is the main source of contamination because over 95% of the people in the area depend on it for drinking and washing water.
George Wanakina, the Manafwa environmental officer, says over 61% of the trees that protect the water sources have been destroyed. “People are cutting down trees on the river banks for settlement and cultivation. They are also building toilets on river banks and when the toilets get full, they remove the waste and dump it into the river.â€
Diarrhoea in Bududa
In the neighbouring Bududa district, Peter Wakoba, the district health officer, says they have diarrhoea and not cholera cases. “We have received and treated about 30 cases of diarrhoea. People are eating half-cooked food and children are also eating solid foods.â€
He says the cases mainly originate from the congested Bukalasi sub-county camp where the displaced people drink dirty water and eat half-cooked food due to lack of firewood.
“However, we have since treated and transferred them to Bulucheke camp, a much bigger site, where the toilet coverage stands at over 95%,†Wakoba adds. “Overall, the toilet coverage in Bududa district stands at over 68%. It is only at Buchebokolo sub-county where the toilet coverage stands at a mere 45%.â€
Cholera signs and symptoms
An infected person experiences severe vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration. Without immediate treatment, cholera may cause death within four to 12 hours after the symptoms begin.
Prevention and treatment
Kiggundu says most sick people are admitted in different health centres and are being given fluids and antibiotics. “Due to the limited antibiotics, we are giving people a mixture of water and glucose to counter dehydration,†he says.
Kiggundu says they are also sensitising people to boil drinking water and eat well cooked food, avoid raw food and drinks whose source they are not sure of. “We have also received chlorine and liquid soup worth sh3m from the district to treat the water and for hand washing, respectively. We are encouraging people to use latrines and also wash their hands immediately after visiting the latrine,†he explains.
IN the isolation ward of Manafwa Hospital, Irene Namasaba, 52, vomits uncontrollably. She is frail and looks dehydrated. The number of times she has passed watery stool is countless.
Medical experts say these are tell-tale signs of cholera, a serious infectious disease caused by the bacteria vibrio cholerae, which affect the intestines.
The hospital is in Manafwa district which borders Bududa, an area that was recently ravaged by landslides that left hundreds of people dead and thousands displaced. Sanitary conditions in this eastern part of the country, about 450km from the capital city, Kampala, are appalling due to heavy rains, floods and lack of latrines.
Dr. Josen Kiggundu, the Manafwa district health officer, says about 86 people in seven sub-counties have been diagnosed with cholera. Three people are confirmed dead and over 200,000 are at risk of contracting the deadly disease.
He explains that they started receiving suspected cases of cholera in January after the heavy downpour that flooded the area, submerging pit latrines and causing the banks of River Manafwa to burst.
“People were coming from Manafwa Town Council to the health facility with severe vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration. When we tested samples of stool from 10 people, eight of them had cholera,†Kiggundu explains.
Kiggundu says they isolated the patients and informed the health ministry and World Health Organisation, which put the district on high alert for cholera.
He adds that they received more cases from the sub-counties of Namabya, Magale, Sibyanga and Bukusu. Others came from Bubutu, Bumbo and Bumooni sub-counties. “We are receiving about two cases per day from different sub-counties. The number is sporadic and accumulates everyday,†Kiggundu adds.
Contaminated food
Cholera is contagious. It spreads by consumption of food or water that is contaminated with faecal matter. It can also spread through human-to-human contact. Some people have been infected after eating raw or undercooked food.
Kiggundu says people are eating contaminated food and drinking contaminated water as a result of floods brought about by the heavy downpour.
They are also living under poor sanitary conditions due to poverty and lack of resources.
Toilet coverage in the district is at about 45% and only 55% of the people have proper sanitation. “People defecate in open places like bushes and along water shores. Rain water washes the waste into the water sources where people draw water for domestic use,†Kiggundu says.
He says people are eating half-cooked food like fish, which exposes them to cholera germs. “The victims are mainly children under the age of five. They are supposed to be fed on milk and other liquid food that is well cooked,†he says.
He adds that River Manafwa is the main source of contamination because over 95% of the people in the area depend on it for drinking and washing water.
George Wanakina, the Manafwa environmental officer, says over 61% of the trees that protect the water sources have been destroyed. “People are cutting down trees on the river banks for settlement and cultivation. They are also building toilets on river banks and when the toilets get full, they remove the waste and dump it into the river.â€
Diarrhoea in Bududa
In the neighbouring Bududa district, Peter Wakoba, the district health officer, says they have diarrhoea and not cholera cases. “We have received and treated about 30 cases of diarrhoea. People are eating half-cooked food and children are also eating solid foods.â€
He says the cases mainly originate from the congested Bukalasi sub-county camp where the displaced people drink dirty water and eat half-cooked food due to lack of firewood.
“However, we have since treated and transferred them to Bulucheke camp, a much bigger site, where the toilet coverage stands at over 95%,†Wakoba adds. “Overall, the toilet coverage in Bududa district stands at over 68%. It is only at Buchebokolo sub-county where the toilet coverage stands at a mere 45%.â€
Cholera signs and symptoms
An infected person experiences severe vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration. Without immediate treatment, cholera may cause death within four to 12 hours after the symptoms begin.
Prevention and treatment
Kiggundu says most sick people are admitted in different health centres and are being given fluids and antibiotics. “Due to the limited antibiotics, we are giving people a mixture of water and glucose to counter dehydration,†he says.
Kiggundu says they are also sensitising people to boil drinking water and eat well cooked food, avoid raw food and drinks whose source they are not sure of. “We have also received chlorine and liquid soup worth sh3m from the district to treat the water and for hand washing, respectively. We are encouraging people to use latrines and also wash their hands immediately after visiting the latrine,†he explains.