The Gauteng Department of Health says the number of people, who have lost their lives following a cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal, north of Tshwane, now stands at 17.
As of May 23, the provincial department said 165 patients have been seen at Jubilee District Hospital, including 18 that have been transferred to other health facilities in Tshwane.
According to the latest update, the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera stands at 29, while 67 patients are currently for gastrointestinal infection.
“The department continues to urge people to ensure proper hand hygiene, which includes thorough washing of hands with water and soap or alcohol-based sanitiser, before handling food and after using the toilet,” the Health Department said.
It is also calling on the public to report to their nearest health facilities when they present with diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and dehydration symptoms, so they can receive medical treatment.
“We further reiterate the call for the public to avoid consuming known or suspected contaminated food and water.”
Health facilities on high alert
Addressing the media recently, the Head of the Centre for Enteric Diseases at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), Dr Juno Thomas, said the hallmark of cholera is acute watery diarrhoea.
She advised healthcare workers to treat all diarrhoea cases as suspected cholera until proven otherwise.
“This is defined as diarrhoea lasting less than seven days, which is typically watery, non-bloody liquid stools that may contain a bit of mucous,” she explained, adding that diarrhoea is three or more stools within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the City of Tshwane said it would increase the provision of water tankers from three days to five days a week in the affected areas until May 31.
The city also encourages residents in the affected areas to regularly wash the containers they use to draw water from the water tankers with bleach detergent and to boil water drawn from other sources before drinking it.
The city said it is still awaiting the confirmatory test results from the NICD to determine the actual source of contamination.
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