Marginal Drop In Cholera Cases

There has been a marginal decline in cholera cases in the Grater Accra Region from 25 cases in the previous week to only 18 cases with no deaths.

Out of the 18 cases, 14 were reported in the Accra Metropolis with the others coming from the La and Ga South municipalities.

The decline in cholera cases comes after intensified efforts by local and international agencies to combat the communicable disease which has claimed five lives as at June 21, 2015.

Compilation of reported cases by health officials across the country brings the total number of cholera cases to 636 with five deaths across 30 districts.

Regional Cases
Cases of cholera have been reported in all the regions of the country except for the Northern and Upper East regions.

Greater Accra tops the regional cholera chart with 309 cases and five deaths, followed by the Eastern Region with 200 cases and Western Region with 51 reported cases.

The Volta Region follows suite with 45 cases, Central Region 12 reported cases, Brong-Ahafo nine cases, Ashanti eight cases and Upper West with two cases.

Precautions
Dr Emmanuel Dzotsi, Public Health Specialist at the Ghana Health Service Disease Surveillance Department, reiterated the precautionary measures the public should be mindful of in order not to get infected with the disease.

He advised the public to drink only safe pipe or treated water, avoid drinking street vended sachet water, avoid eating street vended foods, prepare and eat food under hygienic conditions, use appropriate sanitation facilities and wash hands with soap and water after using toilet and before meals.

Community members have also been advised to start taking ORS when they have diarrhoea and immediately report to the nearest health facility for immediate treatment of cholera free of charge.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri