Annual Meeting Abstract
Seth Omari Mensah
Abstract
Statement of the Problem: Chorkor is a fishing community in Accra, Ghana. It has a population of about 3000 people. Chorkor like many other communities close to the capitals of many West African countries suffers from overcrowding and pollution due to the inability of town planning activities to catch up with rural urban migration. Cholera is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Chorkor. The incidence of cholera tends to increase during the rainy season and cholera is responsible for about 30% of the total deaths in Chorkor. A close second is tuberculosis which is responsible for 15% of the total deaths and can easily be attributed to overcrowding. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: We carried out a descriptive cross sectional study to investigate the epidemiological link of the cholera outbreak in Chorkor Greater Accra region of Ghana. Index cases were identified with the help of line lists. Univariate analyses were expressed as frequency distributions, percentages, mean±standard deviation, and rates (attack rates, case-fatality rates etc.) as appropriate. Maps were drawn using Arc GIS and Epi info software to describe the pattern of transmission. Findings: We found 1733 cases with 20 deaths (CFR=1.2%) with an overall attack rate of approximately 25 per 3000 population with sex specific attack rates of 24% and 18% for males and females respectively. 90 stool samples yielded V. cholerae O1 Ogawa with ciprofloxacin and tetracycline being sensitive to the cholera strains. Conclusions & Significance: The lack of personal hygiene, safe drinking water, open defecation, poor sanitation and food were some of the causes of the cholera outbreak in Chorkor. We recommend the Ministries of Local Government and Rural Development, Works and Housing and Water Resources to ensure proper liquid and solid waste disposal systems and provide adequate potable water to the populace and also our research with the help of sustainable medical missions helped curb cholera in Chorkor with the distribution of fliers which educated them more on how cholera could be prevented. Basically connected to lacking access to safe water and appropriate sanitation, its effect can be considerably progressively sensational in zones where essential natural foundations are upset or have been annihilated. Nations confronting complex crises are especially helpless against cholera episodes. Monstrous uprooting of IDPs or outcasts to packed settings, where the arrangement of consumable water and sanitation is testing, comprises likewise a hazard factor. In outcome, it is of central significance to have the option to depend on exact reconnaissance information to screen the advancement of the flare-up and to set up satisfactory mediation estimates Coordination of the various divisions included is fundamental, and WHO requires the participation of all to confine the impact of cholera on populaces. Cholera is described in its most serious structure by an unexpected beginning of intense watery looseness of the bowels that can prompt passing by extreme lack of hydration. The amazingly short brooding time frame - two hours to five days - upgrades the conceivably touchy example of episodes, as the quantity of cases can rise rapidly. About 75% of individuals contaminated with cholera don't build up any indications. In any case, the pathogens remain in their excrement for 7 to 14 days and are shed go into the earth, perhaps tainting others. Cholera is an amazingly harmful infection that influences the two youngsters and grown-ups. In contrast to other diarrhoeal infections, it can kill solid grown-ups inside hours. People with lower resistance, for example, malnourished youngsters or individuals living with HIV, are at more serious danger of death whenever contaminated by cholera. Cholera is an infection that influences the digestion tracts and is portrayed by the serious watery looseness of the bowels with heaving and extreme lack of hydration. About 75% of individuals tainted with Vibrio cholera don't build up any side effects, in spite of the fact that the microorganisms are available in their dung for 7–14 days after disease and are shed go into nature, conceivably contaminating others. The method of transmission of Cholera is through fecal pollution of food or water. Transmission is subsequently firmly connected with poor natural administration because of water and sanitation issues. This makes the illness a key pointer of an absence of social turn of events. Cholera is an incredibly destructive sickness that can kill inside hours and influences both the youthful and old. Its seriousness of the runs connected with regurgitating can prompt quick-drying out an electrolyte irregularity, which can in the long run lead to death. About half of cholera cases may bite the dust whenever left untreated. All-inclusive, cholera stays a significant general wellbeing challenge. It is assessed that 1.4 to 4.3 million cholera cases and 28,000 to 142,000 cholera passings happen all around every year. The worldwide weight of cholera is enormous, especially in Africa and southern Asia. Ghana recorded more than 9000 cholera cases in 1999 with around 250 passings. In an episode from September 2010 to April 2011, there were more than 8000 cases with 89 passings from three districts of the nation; Central, Eastern, and Greater Accra. A few examinations have demonstrated that poor natural conditions, nonattendance, or deficiency of safe water, just as poor waste administration, are the fundamental factors that advance cholera plagues. Epidemiological connections delineate the significance of early examinations and how they can be utilized to improve sickness episodes. They likewise advise dynamic about the suitable intercessions to be organized to forestall ensuing flare-ups. A few pandemics in various pieces of the world and have been epidemiologically connected by various specialists to show how the cases are spread and how they are identified with list cases. Results from such investigations have educated dynamic and viable intercessions. This was started by crafted by John Snow in 1854 on Cholera when his discoveries educated crucial changes in water and waste frameworks in London. Founding intercessions for the control of cholera, for the most part, come about because of realizing the hazard factors and the connection between the record cases, and this can reduce and forestall future flare-ups. Ghana recorded its most noticeably awful episode of cholera in 2014 with eight out of its 10 areas being influenced. The cholera episode began in June 2014 and proceeded to 2015. Before the finish of January 2015 when the episode was at last contained, more than 28, 000 cases with 243 passings had been recorded in every one of the 10 locales of Ghana. The Greater Accra Region (GAR) was the most influenced, recording practically 98% of all cholera cases. Despite the fact that examinations were done seriously to distinguish the hazard factors as is accomplished for pretty much every cholera episode in Ghana, no deliberate exertion has been set up to quantify the connection that may exist between the record cases. There is a need to explore the connection between file cases and the wellspring of contamination to help break the transmission procedure. This investigation, accordingly, tried to show how the file cases from the different locale of the Greater Accra area may have been connected.