- the disease has already claimed 17 lives in Ngami
The Ngami District Health Management Team (DHMT) has strengthened its response and surveillance measures in order to contain the spread of diarrhea in the district which has already claimed 17 lives.
The North West District began experiencing a rise in diarrhoea cases particularly among the under 5 population in July 2024 which continued to rise in the month of August 2024, where DHMT recorded a total of 622 cases.
From the 622 cases, 485 had diarrhoea without dehydration, 121 had diarrhoea with dehydration and 16 had diarrhoea with blood in the stools. A total of 17 deaths have been registered with 5 in July 2024 and 12 in August 2024, translating to a case fatality rate of 2.7%. Of these 17 deaths, 9 were brought in dead to the health facility.
Addressing the North West District full council session this week, Chairman Itumeleng Kelebetseng noted that the DHMT has strengthened its response and surveillance measures in order to contain the spread of the disease in the district.
“The offices of the District Commissioner, Council Secretary, Tribal Administration and Tawana Land Board had borrowed the DHMT 1 vehicle each to facilitate in Diarrhea disease response,” he highlighted.
In addition, Kelebetseng indicated that the department of environmental health under NWDC is facilitating the DHMT with water sampling in areas having more cases. Most of these cases were reportedly registered inn Sankoyo while others were recorded at Matlapana.
The council chairman has once again pleaded with key stakeholders to help spread the message on members of the public, whom they advise to remain calm but vigilant and should visit the nearest health facility should they or their children, experience any unusual symptoms. This includes dehydration, vomiting, decrease in urination, dry lips, sunken eyes, fever, nausea, blood or mucus in the stool and loose bowels for more than three times a day.
The public is further advised to keep their environment clean and maintain high standards of hygiene, including always washing their hands with clean water and soap, boiling water for children before drinking it.
When addressing council previously, Ngami DHMT coordinator Dr Sandra Maripe explained that that causes of diarrhoea can be divided into infectious and non-infectious, with most diarrhea causes in developing countries are associated with bacteria such as salmonella, shigella, campylobacter and E. coli. Common viruses that cause diarrhea include rotavirus and norovirus.
She further explained that in a very few cases, diarrhoea may found to be caused by protozoa such as giardia or cryptosporidium. In some cases, however, she said it may be due to mixed causes while some may not have any identified causes. “Non-infectious diarrhoea can be caused by malabsorption, anatomical defects, or inflammatory bowel disease.”
