CHOLERA (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Sci & Tech)

Context: Since 2017, a spike in conflict and displacement in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is pushing children into the worst cholera crisis, warns the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

• In 2017, cholera spread across Congo, including the capital, Kinshasa, leading to almost 55,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths.
• Cholera is mainly linked to insufficient access to safe drinking water and inadequate sanitation. 

Cholera disease

• About: A life-threatening infectious disease and a public health hazard.
• Caused by: An acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.
• Symptoms:
• Profuse watery diarrhoea
• Vomiting
• Leg cramps
• Transmission:
• A person may get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium.
• The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water.
• Vaccine:
• Currently there are three WHO pre-qualified oral cholera vaccines (OCV), Dukoral, Shanchol, and Euvichol-Plus.
• All three vaccines require two doses for full protection.
• It is not covered in Universal Immunization Programme (UIP).