Zimbabwe Names Task Force for Cholera Prevention | Kenya cholera update | India - Oral vaccine against cholera launched

[Campbell, Dan]

Amid Seasonal Rains, Zimbabwe Names Task Force for Cholera Prevention

Health authorities have reported five deaths from some 120 cases in recent months, but a recurrence of last year’s major epidemic which claimed more than 4,200 lives fortunately does not seem to be shaping up

Washington 14 December 2009

http://www1.voanews.com/zimbabwe/news/health/Zimbabwe-Cholera-Task-Force-Immunization-Conference-14Dec09-79240142.html


The government of Zimbabwe has established a task force to make sure that the devastating cholera epidemic of 2008-2009 does not revisit the country now that the annual rainy season is running full throttle, Harare sources said.

Health authorities have reported five deaths from some 120 cases so far. But a recurrence of last year’s major epidemic which claimed more than 4,200 lives from late 2008 to mid-2009 does not seem to be shaping up so far.

Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, chairman of the inter-ministerial panel, told VOA Studio 7 reporter Sandra Nyaira about the preventive measures that his task force is putting in place building on steps already taken.

Elsewhere, a World Health Organization conference on immunization in sub-Saharan Africa was under way in Harare bringing together health experts to share information on vaccines and immunization levels across the continent.

Dr. Luis Gomes Sambo, WHO regional director, said tells that although infant mortality has been in decline in sub-Saharan Africa, the region accounted for 51% of under-five deaths globally in 2008. So there is considerable work to be done for Africa to meet the Millennium Development Goal of reducing under-five mortality by two-thirds by the year 2015.

Preventable diseases like measles remain a leading cause of death, Dr. Sambo said. But he noted that polio is down 99% since 1988.

Health Minister Henry Madzorera said the conference, which ends Thursday, will provide authorities in Harare with much useful information.

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Kenya cholera update,

 

Dec 15, 2009

 

http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/Lack-of-polio-vaccines-reported-in-Kenyan-hospitals-6836.html

 

Meanwhile the ministry said recent suspected cholera cases in a Nairobi slum had turned out to be diarrhoea.

Dr Shariff said the seven cases reported last week in Galole village near Eastleigh estate in Nairobi were as a result of consumption of illicit brew.

“It is a group of people who were drinking illicit brew then they ended up with diarrhoea and other cases of sickness. We at first thought it was cholera but it was not and fortunately we did not lose anybody,” he said.

He said other cases reported in Soweto slum were due to leaking and blocked sewer lines and the Nairobi City Council had been asked to urgently rectify the problem.

There were 159 confirmed cases of cholera as of the beginning of this month and over 4,700 reported cases of acute watery diarrhoea.

At least 131 deaths have occurred.

 

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India - Oral vaccine against cholera launched

<http://www.expressbuzz.com/finance/searchresult.aspx?AliasName=nzGj2|6Fjvz6KsBIWm/bcX3ig1csqgFF>

15 Dec 2009 02:58:00 AM IST

HYDERABAD: Shantha, which was recently acquired by Sanofi Pasteur -- the vaccines division of the Sanofi-Aventis Group -- on Monday, launched Shanchol, the country’s first oral vaccine to protect individuals older than two years against cholera.

Shanchol can also be administered to children aged between one to five years, who are at the risk of developing cholera in an outbreak.

The company said, the vaccine -- which was developed in collaboration with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), Seoul, Korea -- conducted phase III clinical trials on about 70,000 individuals in Kolkata to test the efficacy of the vaccine.

Cholera, an acute diarrhoeal infection is caused by bacterium vibrio cholerae and transmission occurs through direct faecaloral contamination or through ingestion of contaminated water and food.

According to reports, about two lakh cases of cholera were notified to the World Health Organisation between 2006 and 2007 from 52 countries. This represents a 46 per cent increase in the mean number of cases reported during 2002-2005. Similarly, in India too, the overall incidence of cholera is estimated to be as high as every nine per 1,000 children


Dan Campbell, Web Manager
Environmental Health at USAID
1611 North Kent St., Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22209
Ph: 703-247-8722
Email: dcam...@usaid.gov  
Environmental Health at USAID: http://www.ehproject.org <http://www.ehproject.org/> 
Indoor Air Pollution Updates: http://iapnews.wordpress.com <http://iapnews.wordpress.com/>
Sanitation Updates: http://sanitationupdates.wordpress.com <http://sanitationupdates.wordpress.com/> 
Urban Health Updates: http://urbanhealthupdates.wordpress.com <http://urbanhealthupdates.wordpress.com/> 
Cholera Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/cholera-control <http://groups.google.com/group/cholera-control>
Household Water Treatment Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/household-water-treatment <http://groups.google.com/group/household-water-treatment>





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Subject: Google Alert - cholera



Google News Alert for: cholera

Cooks blamed for cholera outbreak <http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20091215-185949.html&ct=ga&cd=yfJQpl6GrHs&usg=AFQjCNFq8SaRDuQ3S_d29f8v1Fe64GYXXA>
AsiaOne
KUALA LUMPUR - Non-compliance with personal hygiene by cooks, food handlers and the public is the main cause of the recent cholera outbreak in Terengganu, ...
See all stories on this topic <http://news.google.com/news/story?ncl=http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20091215-185949.html&hl=en>    
Oral vaccine against cholera launched <http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.expressbuzz.com/finance/story.aspx%3FTitle%3DOral%2Bvaccine%2Bagainst%2Bcholera%2Blaunched%26artid%3Dv%257CUEHX3WpWg%3D%26SectionID%3DXT7e3Zkr/lw%3D%26MainSectionID%3DXT7e3Zkr/lw%3D%26SEO%3DSanofi-Aventis%2BGroup,%2BShantha,%2BIVI,%2BWorld%2BHealth%2BO%26SectionName%3DHFdYSiSIflu29kcfsoAfeg%3D%3D&ct=ga&cd=yfJQpl6GrHs&usg=AFQjCNFGiHo_g7oikgAyRLX0SCoQWp0w2g>
Express Buzz
Shanchol can also be administered to children aged between one to five years, who are at the risk of developing cholera in an outbreak. ...
See all stories on this topic <http://news.google.com/news/story?ncl=http://www.expressbuzz.com/finance/story.aspx%3FTitle%3DOral%2Bvaccine%2Bagainst%2Bcholera%2Blaunched%26artid%3Dv%257CUEHX3WpWg%3D%26SectionID%3DXT7e3Zkr/lw%3D%26MainSectionID%3DXT7e3Zkr/lw%3D%26SEO%3DSanofi-Aventis%2BGroup,%2BShantha,%2BIVI,%2BWorld%2BHealth%2BO%26SectionName%3DHFdYSiSIflu29kcfsoAfeg%3D%3D&hl=en>       

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