Stepping Up the Fight to End Cholera and Chikungunya Outbreaks in Mandera County, Kenya

"An MSF assisted cholera treatment center in Mandera, Kenya". June 03, 2016 - Photo credit : @unfpakenBy Siddharth ChatterjeeMandera County, Kenya, Jun 5 2016 (IPS)Mandera’s double whammy, the concurrent outbreaks of cholera and chikungunya, is bringing to the fore the need for accelerated epidemic preparedness and prevention systems. Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease that can kill within hours if left untreated.Chikungunya virus is most often spread to people by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. These are the same mosquitoes that transmit dengue, yellow fever and zika virus. Its symptoms include high fever, joint pain, rash and headache. There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat chikungunya virus infection.The twin epidemics have hit the expansive north-eastern county in Kenya, with half the population coming down with chikungunya virus infection. Since April, almost 1,103 cases of cholera has been reported in Mandera including 16 deaths, 3 being children.For about 17 months, several areas in Kenya have reported cholera outbreaks, but the outbreaks in Mandera present special challenges in a region where one health worker serves about 2,000 people and half the population has no access to clean water.Almost 80 per cent of the Mandera residents are down with the outbreak – which has adversely affected health care workers and the livelihoods of many vulnerable urban poor, especially women and children.Even the Mandera county Governor Ali Roba bec...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Africa Development & Aid Education Featured Headlines Health Inequity Population Poverty & SDGs Source Type: news