Kenya has vaccinated more than 1.8 million people against cholera, as Malawi continues to grapple with the prolonged outbreak of the disease.
The Head of immunisation, at the Ministry of Health, Dr Lucy Mecca said by Friday last week, at least 1.8 people had been vaccinated.
The Ministry’s target was to vaccinate more than 2.2 million people by Monday, February 20 in the ongoing drive. The official was optimistic that the Ministry would meet the target.
“As per the data, we shall surpass the target of vaccinating 2.2 million people. We are still collecting data from respective counties, as we end the exercise,” said Mecca.
Daniel Lang’at, the Head of Department of Disease Surveillance in the Ministry of Health, said the targeted vaccination is aimed at preventing more cases and deaths.
The targeted vaccination in the counties of Nairobi, Garissa, Wajir and Tana River was scheduled for 10 days.
“Public health officers deployed to counties hardly hit by the disease are walking to homes, markets, and schools to vaccinate all eligible people to stop the disease,” said Dr Lang’at.
The Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) is an option for emergency use to prevent cholera outbreaks.
The country has reported more than 4,566 cumulated cases and 83 deaths, from October last year, when an outbreak was reported.
“Though we have not contained the disease, the epidemic curve is on the downward trend in terms of infections and mortality,” said Lang’at.
Cholera is an acute bacterial disease which presents with diarrhoea, as a result of consuming food which is contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio Cholerae.
