A first fatal case of cholera has been announced on the island of Mayotte, announced the Regional Health Agency (ARS) and the prefecture. This is a 3-year-old child who lived in the slums of Koungou.
A 3-year-old child died of cholera in Mayotte, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) and the prefecture announced in a press release on Wednesday May 8. “A first child died today,” we can read. This is the first death recorded on the island since the detection of the first cases on March 19. “It’s a collective shame, a health disaster,” lamented Estelle Youssouffa, Liot MP for the island. In a post published on , a distribution of bottled water or hydroalcoholic gel. At the same time, the parliamentarian also called for the “closure of the border at sea” in order to prevent “the entry of illegal patients from the Comoros”, reports franceinfo.
The child lived in a slum
According to the first elements reported by Estelle Youssouffa, the toddler who died after contracting cholera lived “in the slums of Koungou”, where many Comorians often live. According to INSEE figures, in 2017, 48% of the population living in Mayotte was of foreign nationality, the majority of whom came from the Comoros. “The precarious housing of migrants arriving in Mayotte, in search of subsistence from the neighboring Comoros, favors the spread of cholera which is a disease of underdevelopment and very great poverty,” explained epidemiological doctor Antoine. Flahault to our colleagues at France 24.
A disease of bacterial origin, cholera can cause acute diarrhea and lead to death from dehydration within one to three days. In most cases, the disease is caused after ingesting food or water contaminated with the bacteria bacillus vibrio or vibrio cholera. Although in the majority of cases, infected people do not experience any symptoms, when they do appear, the disease can prove fatal in 10 to 20% of cases, particularly through severe diarrhea and accelerated dehydration.
To protect against this, vaccines and effective treatments exist. Although health reinforcements were sent to this overseas department located in the heart of the Indian Ocean to fight against the spread of the virus after the discovery of the first cases, the deceased child could not be taken care of. on time. “This death of a child reminds us that cholera is a fatal disease which is taking root in a French department which is a medical desert,” regretted MP Estelle Youssouffa.