More than 30 patients from slums admitted with cholera in Nairobi
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Lang’ata District Surveillance Officer Samuel Muturi said he had been asked to coordinate efforts to contain the water borne disease and prevent it from spreading to other parts of Nairobi.
Mr Mwita urged residents with prolonged diarrhoea to seek medical attention. “Cholera causes the body to lose fluids. Without urgent medical attention, patients may die,” he said.
Nairobi County Director of Communication Beryl Okundi said the regional government was distributing potable water to slum residents.
At least 30 people have been admitted to a hospital in Nairobi after they contracted cholera.
Most of them are from Laini Saba in the Kibera slum, according to the Public Health Department.
The patients are in old maternity wards at the Mbagathi Sub-County Hospital.
Medical staff said they were using intravenous drips and a cocktail of antibiotics to treat the patients.
Lang’ata District Surveillance Officer Samuel Muturi said he had been asked to coordinate efforts to contain the water borne disease and prevent it from spreading to other parts of Nairobi.
The Public Health Department says the outbreak was reported on Monday but claims that it was under control.
Cholera has also been reported in Nakuru, where nine people have died.
Most cholera cases in Nairobi are in Darajani of Laini Saba, near the heavily polluted Nairobi River.
Lang’ata Public Health Officer James Mwita attributed the outbreak to contaminated drinking water. A community health worker in Kibera who did not want to be named said water samples from the area sent to the Government Chemist tested positive for the cholera bacteria.
PROLONGED DIARHEA
Mr Mwita urged residents with prolonged diarrhoea to seek medical attention. “Cholera causes the body to lose fluids. Without urgent medical attention, patients may die,” he said.
Mr Yasin Juma from Darajani was taken to Wanga Clinic after he developed cholera symptoms on Sunday. The following day he was moved to Mbagathi after prolonged diarrhoea.
Nairobi County Director of Communication Beryl Okundi said the regional government was distributing potable water to slum residents.
In Nakuru one more person died yesterday bringing the toll to nine since Monday. Eighteen patients are still at the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital.
The head of the cholera surveillance committee, Dr Elizabeth Kiptoo, said new cases are now being handled at the Langalanga health centre as the main isolation ward at the provincial general hospital was overwhelmed.
Kwa Rhonda slum has been hit hardest, with 43 cases. Of the nine deaths, six were from the slum.
In Mombasa, at least 11 people have been admitted to hospital following an outbreak of the disease.
Additional reporting by Benard Ogembo
