Health Education Officers in Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, have urged residents to take suspected cholera cases to the nearest health facility regardless of whether the person is a registered patient. They asserted that this measure was necessary to prevent further complications and death, which have been recorded while attempting to locate patients’ registered hospitals. The experts stated this at the Risk Communication-Community Engagement Meeting on Cholera Outbreak held at the Lagos State Secretariat in Alausa, Ikeja, on Tuesday.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, on Tuesday, stated that there have been 2,102 suspected cholera cases and 63 deaths across 33 states and 122 Local Government Areas since the beginning of the year to June 30. Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government recorded 33 deaths, 49 confirmed cases and 821 suspected cases in several LGAs, with Eti-Osa, Lagos Island and Kosofe witnessing the highest cases.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingesting food, water and drinks contaminated with the vibrio cholera bacteria.
The symptoms include constant stooling and can be accompanied by vomiting, leading to rapid loss of body fluids and death within hours if immediate medical attention is not provided. Addressing participants at the event, the State Health Educator and the Director of Health Promotion, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Olusegun Badejo, stated that individuals with cholera experience severe dehydration, therefore, there is a need for urgent medical attention.
He advised that such patients be immediately taken to the nearest hospital for treatment and administered the Oral Rehydration Solution while on the way. “Whosoever is taking a patient to the nearest health facility is doing an excellent job but the person is not doing a good job as someone who is replacing the fluid (administering ORS if the person isn’t vomiting and can tolerate it) as the person is being transported. What we have discovered is that when the body fluid gets exhausted and finished, the person is at risk of dying. “So, don’t begin to ask or look for the hospital where the patient has a card, take the person to the nearest health facility for urgent medical attention,” Badejo added.
The State Health Educator also urged parents to advise their children against taking food or water from classmates and strangers to prevent exposure to cholera. In a session on the ‘Mode of Transmission of Cholera’, Badejo mentioned that houseflies are major carriers of cholera bacteria, advising the participants to practice regular hand washing and maintain good hygiene.
He also noted that while the cholera outbreak is gradually reducing, more work is needed to prevent resurgence. “We all have a role to play. We want to equip and train us on precautionary measures that we need to take in times like this so that when we are done, you can go back to the people you are representing to train them and cascade the information to them. Everybody must be ready to fight this battle because we don’t want cholera in Lagos State,” the Health Promotion Director added.
Also, the Assistant Chief, Health Education Officer of the Primary Health Care Board, Ayoade Shoboyejo, emphasized the need to provide accurate and adequate information about cholera to community members. He urged the participants to adopt effective community-based decisions to reduce the risk of infection and prevent the spread of the infection. “Once we notice the signs and symptoms relating to cholera, the first thing to do is to ensure that we get an Oral Rehydration Solution. This is a simple cost-effective solution of clean water, salt and sugar that can prevent deaths by 80 per cent in persons with cholera. “The salt in the ORS replenishes the body electrolyte, the sugar produces the glucose and the water is effective in replenishing the lost electrolyte in the body,” Shoboyejo said.
He stated that the ORS could be bought at the pharmaceutical store and can also be prepared at home using the right amount of sugar, salt and water. The Health Education Officer at the PHCB also informed that chlorine tablets are effective in preventing cholera outbreaks. He said, “Chlorine tablets have been introduced and it is effective in the purification and disinfecting water, especially dirty water. This has been tested and certified as effective. This tablet has been distributed across 20 LGAs. There are instructions to guide each dosage. “In an emergency water disinfestation, we dissolve one tablet per 200 liters of water and this will give us 5pm available chlorine in the water. You keep it for 30 minutes and it is safe for drinking.” Shoboyejo further encouraged regular hand washing with soap and water before eating and after using the toilet, boiling water or purifying it with chlorine before drinking, maintaining personal and environmental hygiene, and washing fruits and vegetables before consumption.
