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The Ghana Health Service and Partners on behalf of the Ministry of Health are conducting a vaccination campaign against cholera in the Western region of Ghana.
The campaign will start from Thursday 19th December to Sunday, 22nd December 2024 for all persons aged 1 year and above.
Trained vaccination teams will move from house to house and designated centres in the communities, to vaccinate all persons aged 1 year and above.
Care givers and all community members within the districts, have been asked to look out for the vaccination teams or visit the nearest vaccination center for vaccination.
The GHS assures the public that the vaccine is safe, effective and free and given as drops in the mouth. The vaccine does not replace other preventive interventions. Therefore, the public is advised to continue other practices such as frequent washing of hands with soap under running water before eating, cooking or after visiting the toilet; drinking safe water; eating hot food and keeping clean surroundings.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection that can kill within hours if not treated promptly. It occurs after ingestion of food or water contaminated with the cholera bacterium (Vibrio Cholerae). The mode of transmission includes drinking water contaminated with faeces or vomit of an infected person, eating contaminated food, eating raw fruits and vegetables irrigated with contaminated water, especially those from sewage gardens. It affects both children and adults and is a disease linked to personal hygiene, poor environmental sanitation and lack of access to potable water.
The onset of the disease is sudden. An infected person usually shows symptoms between 12 hours and 5 days after ingesting the bacterium. It starts with a profuse, painless and watery (rice-water) stool.
The public is advised to avoid cold food and thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables with potable water before eating. Food vendors should always wash their cups, plates and cutlery sets with soap under running water before use. Food should always be covered. Anyone who has acute diarrhea should start drinking ORS+ Zinc tablets, coconut water and other juices and visit the nearest health facility immediately. If you are not sure of the source of water, boil it before drinking. Also note that dehydration, which is the loss of body fluids, kills very quickly.
