Cholera outbreak: Kiambu records 344 cases and 5 deaths since October
Acting Director General for Health Patrick Amoth.
Kiambu County has recorded 344 cholera cases and five deaths since the outbreak of the disease on October 10 last year.
In the last 24 hours, however, no death had been recorded.
According to data released by the Ministry of Health on Friday, of the 344 cases, 205 were male while 139 were female.
The epicentre of the infection was a wedding in Eva’s Garden, in Limuru Sub County on October 8, 2022. Yet, of the total cases reported, only 49 had attended the wedding.
Some 19 patients were not tested but met the case definition since they also attended the wedding.
Disease distribution
Juja, having 91 infected, was the most ravaged by the outbreak followed closely by Ruiru, where 72 were infected, then Thika (60), Kabete (22), Githunguri (20), Kiambu town (8), Limuru (7), Kiambaa (6), Gatundu south (5), Kikuyu (3) and Lari (2), while Gatundu north only reported one case.
The Health ministry said 70 of these were treated as outpatients. And of the total, 268 cases have been treated and discharged from various health facilities in Kiambu County. However, one patient is still admitted at Thika Level 5 Hospital.
Even so, the county did not report any cases of cholera in the last 24 hours.
As of January 12, the county said it had traced 547 contacts.
On the downside, however, the ministry decried the prolonged procurement process as causing a delay in the availability to respond to the outbreak.
Further, the ministry said limited budgetary allocation for public health commodities is among the challenges derailing the fight against the spread of the disease.
The ministry remains on high alert, listing a raft of measures to contain the disease including vaccinations in hotspot areas.
“[The ministry will] heighten risk assessment measures based on access to safe water, and functional sanitation facilities,” the ministry said.
“[And] laboratory results be transmitted promptly to the health facility where cases are domiciled to assist in updating clinical records for proper management of the outbreak.”
