Cholera death toll rises to four in Tana River

What you need to know:

  • The two , all women, women succumbed to the disease at the weekend as the public health department in the sub-county imposed a ban on feasting during funerals and weddings to curb escalation of the outbreak.
  • Tana Delta Sub-County Medical Officer of Health Nicholas Mwenda said the woman developed symptoms of the disease on returning home and succumbed to it on Saturday in Malakoteni.

Two more people have died from cholera in Tana River County, bringing the death toll to four, since a fresh outbreak of the highly contagious disease recurred within Tana Delta sub-county last week.

The two , all women, women succumbed to the disease at the weekend as the public health department in the sub-county imposed a ban on feasting during funerals and weddings to curb escalation of the outbreak.

Garsen trading centre and its environs, especially in villages, is the hardest hit because of pathetic sanitation.

The latest victims include a middle-aged woman who attended burial of another and her son who died from cholera on Thursday.

Tana Delta Sub-County Medical Officer of Health Nicholas Mwenda said the woman developed symptoms of the disease on returning home and succumbed to it on Saturday in Malakoteni.

Another young woman, who left behind an infant, from Guba Haroru village, approximately 180 kilometres, South East of Garsen died on Sunday at a private clinic at Tarasaa trading centre.

“In total, we lost four people from the last cholera case and successfully treated nine others,” he added.

Dr Mwenda told the Nation on Monday that Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) and Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun) have exempted doctors and nurses in Tana Delta from the on-going strike to allow them to attend to cholera victims.

“We have therefore moved all cholera patients from their villages to hospitals in order to attend to them to curb further spread. We have five patients at Garsen health centre and we expect to discharge one or two in the evening,” he added.

He said treating patients from the villages was a challenging task due to poor sanitation and inability to closely monitor their process.

Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) has also intervened by engaging public health officers to trace for mourners attending victims’ burials to educate them on cholera signs and symptoms and report to health facilities immediately.

“We have formed a small team to combat the disease as well as educate the public on their need to beef up sanitation within their neighbourhood. We have also distributed doxycycline to affected ones,” said Dr Mwenda.

Several children who were last week also taken ill with cholera symptoms at the neighbouring Kajisteni village but they were also said to have stabilized.

Tana River County has been grappling with cholera cases throughout the year in Tana North and Tana Delta Sub-Counties with approximately 30 deaths having been reported and over 600 people treated and discharged from hospitals.

Health workers attributed the frequent cholera outbreaks to poor hygiene and blamed public health officers of sleeping on their job.

“We have a serious sanitation problem in the county which can be easily addressed. We have a serious issue of open defecation which fuels this situation. We have expertise to deal with but when you are not properly facilitated, how can you overcome this,’’ they said.