MDs Race Against Time To Vaccinate Somalis; 13,000 Cholera Cases So Far In 17; 15,000 In All Of 16
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“Ever since the drying up of the Shabelle and Juba Rivers, people have been forced to move out to seek water and food in unfamiliar places,” said Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, a cholera expert in the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program and leader of the campaign to deploy 900,000 doses of cholera vaccine supplied by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
The two rivers, both originating in Ethiopia, are normally Somalia’s only perennial streams, and the flood plain between them is the country’s breadbasket. Many wells have run dry, Dr. Abubakar added, so people drink from whatever puddles they can find, which may be contaminated by feces-borne diseases, including cholera.
In 2015, the country had 15,619 known cholera cases and 548 deaths; this year it has already had over 13,000 cases and 333 deaths, Dr. Abubakar said.
Cholera patients’ lives can be saved by intravenous feeding, oral rehydration and antibiotics. But that requires huge treatment wards. “There are very few humanitarian agencies and staff to support cholera response activities,” Dr. Abubakar said, so vaccination may be the only way to slow the spread.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/27/health/cholera-somalia-vaccination-campaign.html?_r=0