After the death of a 3-year-old child, cholera has once again claimed a victim in Mayotte. In this French department plagued by the multiplication of cases, the authorities invite residents to avoid drinking tap water, a vector of contamination.
HAS Mayotte, cholera claimed a second victim. After the death of a 3-year-old child in early May, a 62-year-old woman died on Saturday May 25 in Mamoudzou, capital of the overseas department, said the Regional Health Agency (ARS) .
In accordance with the cholera control protocol, intervention teams went to the sixty-year-old’s home to disinfect the home and take care of those around her. From this Sunday, May 26, “operations of vaccination contact cases have been carried out,” added the ARS.
For several months, the disease has affected around a hundred people on the island. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Health estimated, the day after the first death, that the epidemic is “contained” and that there “is no explosion” of cases. First diagnosed in migrants coming from the Comoros where the disease is raging, three new cases of “native” cholera were identified at the end of April.
Water, vector of contamination
This bacterial disease is transmitted mainly through contaminated water and food. It is recommended to favor bottled water to avoid contamination.
Friday, the deputy for the first constituency of Mayotte, Estelle Youssouffa, also called on the government to organize distributions of mineral water, while the number of cholera cases on the island has exceeded the symbolic bar of 100 case.
Cholera can cause death from dehydration within one to three days, says The Parisian, nevertheless specifying that today, effective vaccines and treatments exist. Symptoms can appear from 12 hours to 5 days after infection. “Mortality is higher among children, the elderly and vulnerable individuals,” explains the Pasteur Institute.