Oral vaccine, quicker response reduce cholera cases: WHO
Sewer flows from an open bust line towards Nairobi River on April 10, 2018. Dirty water raises the risk of cholera outbreaks. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Africa’s cholera cases in 2018 reduced by a commendable 37 per cent from more than 165,000 to 120,652 cases, partly due to containing a protracted outbreak in Somalia and South Sudan, as well as reducing cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, reports the World Health Organisation.
In its weekly epidemiological record of November 29, the WHO attributed this to the oral vaccine and a quicker response. The global health body said that Somalia reported more than 75,000 cases in 2017, which reduced to just 6,761 in 2018. This led to a 25 per cent reduction of deaths to 2,436 in 2018.
