The Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate has confirmed a total of 200 cholera cases in the region so far this year, with 13 deaths recorded.

In its latest update, the directorate reports that 1,465 suspected cases were recorded across the region, out of which 200 were confirmed after laboratory testing.

Out of the confirmed cases, 118 were males with the remaining 82 being females, with the majority of affected individuals falling within the 31 to 50-year age group.

Statistics

Giving the statistics at a regional risk communication and community engagement meeting on cholera prevention and spread yesterday, the Regional Disease Control Officer, Christy Kodom-Achempem, mentioned that there were no recorded cases among infants under age one, while two cases were reported among children aged one to 10.

She added that four cases were recorded among individuals aged 21 to 30, and 44 cases found in the 31 to 40 age group, with the remaining infections spread across older age brackets. 

Prevention practices

The Health Promotion Manager at the Greater Accra Regional Health Directorate, Eunice Joan Teah Dzagli, expressed worry that the country no longer paid close attention to the infection prevention practices it embraced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said practices such as regular handwashing, personal hygiene and maintaining clean environments significantly reduced the spread of infections at the time.

“Our inability to sustain these practices has created an opportunity for bacteria like cholera to spread rapidly.

However, when we began engaging communities and people started taking hygiene seriously through handwashing, proper sanitation and environmental cleanliness, we were able to bring the situation under control,” she said.

Causes

Mrs Dzagli further warned that the onset of the rainy season had created a fertile ground for disease transmission.

“Our gutters are choked with waste, including human excreta, which is rich in microorganisms that can cause serious diseases like cholera.

During floods, contaminated water from gutters and drains often flows into homes.

Once the water recedes, it leaves behind harmful bacteria in the environment, increasing the risk of infection,” she explained.

She added that market environments were also contributing to the problem due to food items being sold directly on the ground.

Additionally, she said, the vegetables consumed by the public were often grown with water from contaminated streams.

Those waters, sometimes mixed with drainage waste, she said, were already polluted before they even touched the crops.