Nairobi County Health Department has confirmed the outbreak of cholera after 14 patients were admitted at various hospitals.
Two weeks ago, about 10 cases of the killer disease were recorded making the county government issue an alert on a possible cholera outbreak and urging residents to take preventive measures to avoid contracting the disease.
While appearing before the Nairobi County Assembly Health Committee, the county chief health officer, Washington Makodingo said, “I can confirm that 14 cases of cholera have been reported in various health facilities with some of the patients having being treated and discharged.”
“We urge the public to treat their water, cook and wash food properly and wash their hands to avoid cases of cholera especially now that there is a water shortage,” he added.
He told the committee that last week, Pumwani Maternity Hospital recorded six cases of cholera with patients who were admitted coming from various parts of the region.
Four patients came from Imara Daima and Embakasi while the other two were from Eastleigh and Ruai.
[ Read: Nairobi hospitals on alert after cholera outbreak ]
Two other patients were admitted at Matter Hospital last week from Imara Daima. Nairobi Hospital and Getrude’s Hospital each recorded one case of malaria.
Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) also received 3 suspected cases of cholera but the patients were not residents of Nairobi.Two of the patients were from Machakos and one from Muranga.
The patients were isolated and treated immediately.
[ See also: Four test positive for Cholera in Kajiado County ]
The county health department, however, said that it had taken necessary measures to curb the outbreak of the disease such as issuance of chlorine tablets in areas where cholera has been reported and issuance of antibiotics to lessen the burden of cholera to those who may contact it.
Further the county government is liaising with the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company to super-chlorinate its water as well as establishing cholera treatment units in all health facilities in the capital city.
Leave a comment