Midlands records 2 000+ diarrhoea cases in 2 weeks

26 Mar, 2017 - 00:03 0 Views

The Sunday News

Munyaradzi Musiiwa, Midlands Correspondent
MORE than 2 000 cases of diarrhoea have been reported in two weeks in the Midlands Province, as sanitation levels have decreased due to excess water following incessant rains.

Statistics compiled by the Ministry of Health and Child Care indicated that the province recorded 1 074 diarrhoea cases in the second week of March and 1 047 in the third week which also claimed one person in Kwekwe. The report showed that close to 40 percent of the affected people were children below the age of five.

“A decrease of (diarrhoea) cases was noted this week from 1 074 the previous week to 1 047 (week ending 19 March). The under five years age group contributed 38.9 percent of the total cases. Again Gokwe South reported the highest number of cases, 203, followed by Gokwe North which had 135, Zvishavane had 123 while Shurugwi and Chirumhanzu recorded 62 and 58 respectively. Mpinda district in Kwekwe had one diarrhoea death,” noted the report.

Midlands medical director Dr Simon Nyadundu attributed the surge in diarrhoea cases to the rains that the country received since the beginning of the year.

“Following heavy rains that also destroyed infrastructure, the sanitation becomes poor as well and people become prone to diseases whose bacteria breeds under unhygienic and wet environments. This has been the major cause of the increase in diarrhoea cases,” he said.

Dr Nyadundu said the province had not recorded any case of cholera or typhoid but recorded a few cases of dysentery.
“No cases of cholera or typhoid were recorded in the province,” he said.

The report stated that the province had also recorded a decrease in cases of dysentery from 97 to 57 a week. “Over 25 percent of the (dysentery) cases were of children below the age of five. Mberengwa District recorded 15 cases, Gokwe 12, Kwekwe 11, Zvishavane eight, Gweru seven and Gokwe North three,” states the report.

Dr Nyadundu said there were a few malaria cases that were reported in the province and they had dropped to less than 50 cases in March.

@Munya_Musiiwa

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