Southeastern Chad are at risk of dying from a worsening hepatitis E
outbreak which has killed 11 people since September, medical charity
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Thursday.
Some 885 people in the Salamat region have been treated for symptoms of jaundice, which can indicate hepatitis E, MSF said.
Most, if not all of the patients, are likely to be suffering from
hepatitis E, a liver disease which spreads through water contaminated
with faeces, the aid group said.
It has recorded 70 cases and 11 deaths, including four pregnant women, to date.
However, the death toll from the outbreak could be higher due to
cases which may not have been treated in health facilities, according to
the World Health Organisation (WHO).
More than 600 MSF staff are working alongside Chad’s health ministry
to test for new cases, treat patients and improve water supplies and
sanitation in the regional capital of Am Timan.
The aid group said it had also rolled out a large scale chlorination
campaign at the 72 water points in Am Timan, and is holding education
sessions to explain the importance of hand washing with soap and
chlorinated water.
In a statement, MSF’s head of mission in Chad, Rolland Kaya, called
for more aid agencies to step in to improve water sanitation in the
region amid mounting cases of the disease.
“As a medical organisation, it is not usually MSF’s job to intervene
on a large scale in water chlorination activities, but with no other
options to help stop the spread of the virus, we are obliged to fill
this gap,” Kaya added.
Hepatitis E affects an estimated 20 million people around the world
each year, with typical symptoms including jaundice, dark urine and pale
stools, abdominal pain and tenderness, nausea and vomiting, fever, and
an enlarged tender liver.
For most people, the infection runs its course with a few long-term
complications, but the mortality rate for pregnant women is about 25 per
cent.
An effective vaccine for the virus is currently only licensed for use in China.
NAN
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