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Introduction
The Ministry of Health, Ghana, reports an outbreak of cholera, a bacterial infection that spreads through contaminated water or food, in some parts of the country. The country is currently facing a Cholera outbreak that has resulted in 21 recorded deaths across four regions of the state.
According to Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye, the director general for Ghana Health Service, vaccination for the deadly disease has begun. The vaccine used is the oral cholera vaccine (OCV). According to choleraalliance.org, the initial case was reported on October 4, 2024, when an individual visited a healthcare facility with cholera-like symptoms. DUBAWA decided to highlight what cholera is to ensure that people are well informed about it.
What is Cholera?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Cholera is a severe diarrheal infection caused by consuming contaminated food or water with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. This disease poses a significant global public health threat, often indicating underlying issues of inequity and inadequate social and economic development. To prevent Cholera and other waterborne diseases, access to safe water, basic sanitation, and hygiene practices are essential. Moreover, countries must implement robust epidemiological and laboratory surveillance to rapidly detect and monitor outbreaks, enabling swift and effective responses.
What are the causes of cholera?
Cholera is spread through the fecal-oral route and is more likely to occur in areas with poor sanitation and inadequate access to clean drinking water. Risk Factors for these causes include:
- Poverty
- Overcrowding
- Poor personal hygiene
- Eating raw or uncooked shellfish
- Eating poorly preserved food from the roadside
Cholera is not likely to spread directly from person to person, but most people infected with the bacteria can spread it through their faeces for 1-10 days.
What are the risk factors for cholera?
Everyone is susceptible to cholera, except infants who get immunity from nursing mothers who have previously had cholera. Still, certain factors can make you more vulnerable to the disease or more likely to have severe signs and symptoms. Risk factors for cholera include:
- Poor sanitary conditions: Cholera is more likely to flourish when a sanitary environment—including a safe water supply—is difficult to maintain. Such conditions are common in refugee camps, impoverished countries, and areas of famine, war, or natural disasters.
- Reduced or nonexistent stomach acid: Cholera bacteria can’t survive in an acidic environment; ordinary stomach acid often serves as a defence against infection. But people with low levels of stomach acid — such as children, older adults, and people who take antacids, H-2 blockers, or proton pump inhibitors — lack this protection, so they’re at greater risk of cholera.
- Household exposure: You’re at increased risk of cholera if you live with someone who has the disease.
- Type O blood: For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, people with type O blood are twice as likely to develop cholera compared with people with other blood types.
- Raw or undercooked shellfish: Although industrialised nations no longer have large-scale cholera outbreaks, eating shellfish from waters that harbour bacteria increases your risk.
What are the symptoms of cholera?
People exposed to the cholera bacterium (Vibrio cholerae) don’t become ill and don’t know they’ve been infected. However, because they shed cholera bacteria in their stool for seven to 14 days, they can still infect others through contaminated water.
Most cases of cholera that cause symptoms cause mild or moderate diarrhoea, which is often hard to tell apart from diarrhoea caused by other problems. Others develop more serious signs and symptoms of cholera, usually within a few days of infection.
Symptoms of cholera infection can include:
- Diarrhoea: Cholera-related diarrhoea comes on suddenly and can quickly cause dangerous fluid loss — as much as a quart (about 1 litre) an hour. Diarrhoea, due to cholera, often has a pale, milky appearance that resembles water in which rice has been rinsed.
- Nausea and vomiting: Vomiting occurs primarily in the early stages of cholera and can last for hours.
- Dehydration: This can develop within hours after cholera symptoms start and range from mild to severe. A loss of 10% or more of body weight indicates severe dehydration. Signs and symptoms of cholera dehydration include irritability, fatigue, sunken eyes, a dry mouth, extreme thirst, dry and shrivelled skin that’s slow to bounce back when pinched into a fold, little or no urination, low blood pressure, and irregular heartbeat. Dehydration can lead to a rapid loss of blood minerals that maintain the body’s fluid balance. This is called an electrolyte imbalance.
- Electrolyte imbalance: An electrolyte imbalance can lead to severe signs and symptoms such as muscle cramps from rapid loss of salts such as sodium, chloride, and potassium.
How do you prevent Cholera?
Cholera is sometimes high and other times low, with a few cases related to travelling to the slums or village or to contaminated and improperly cooked seafood from the nearby waters. If you’re travelling to areas known to have cholera, your risk of contracting the disease is extremely low if you follow these precautions:
- Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, especially after using the toilet and before handling food. Rub soapy, wet hands together for at least 15 seconds before rinsing. If soap and water aren’t available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.
- Drink only safe water, including bottled water or water you’ve boiled or disinfected yourself. Use bottled water even to brush your teeth. Hot beverages, and canned or bottled drinks, are generally safe, but wipe the outside before you open them. Don’t add ice to your drinks unless you made it yourself using safe water.
- Eat wholly cooked and hot food. It is safe to avoid street food, if possible. If you buy a meal from a street vendor, ensure it’s cooked in your presence and served hot.
- Avoid sushi and raw or improperly cooked fish and seafood of any kind.
- Stick to fruits and vegetables you can peel yourself, such as bananas, oranges, and avocados. Avoid salads and fruits that can’t be peeled, such as grapes and berries.
Image: Prime News Ghana
Conclusion
Cholera is a dangerous disease if not treated early and can cause death. If you are in an area where the water is unsaved to drink, use bottled or chemically treated water for drinking, washing, and cooking. Eat cooked food, not raw foods. Should you suspect having cholera, see a doctor right away to begin treatment and avoid dehydration.
This report was produced under the DUBAWA “Combating Election Misinformation and Disinformation in Ghana’s 2024 Elections” Project aimed at promoting a culture of truth and verification ahead of the 2024 General Elections with support from the Federal Republic of Germany in Ghana.
