UGANDA: Hepatitis E outbreak on the rise in Kitgum
Uganda's Ministry of Health has sent a team of experts to the northern district of Kitgum to investigate an outbreak of Hepatatis E (HEV) in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) which has killed 64 people over the past eight months.
KITGUM, 20 June 2008 (IRIN) - The team will assess the extent of the epidemic, the level of intervention against the disease and identify response gaps, Kitgum District Chairman Komakech John Ogwok told IRIN.
“The biggest challenge we have is the attitude of the population,” he said, explaining that many people preferred to visit traditional healers first and only go to health centres as a last resort.
No treatment is available for patients who have reached an acute stage of infection, “but HEV infections are usually self-limited and hospitalisation is generally not required”, according to the World Health Organization.”
"Unless people change their attitude, it will be difficult to get rid of the disease and more people will continue dying," said Ogwok.
Community mobilisers in affected areas said sanitation and hygiene conditions were very poor in IDP camps and the villages to which people were returning in the wake of a rebel insurgency in the north.
HEV is a viral disease spread along the faecal-oral route. Outbreaks tend to be linked to contaminated water or food supplies. Mortality rates are generally low, ranging from 0.5 to 4.0 percent. But among pregnant women in their third trimester this rate can rise to 20 percent.
“The number of hepatitis E cases is continuing to increase in the district… Over 3,082 cases have been registered in the district since October 2007, with 64 deaths, Kitgum District Health Officer Alex Olwedo told IRIN.
“The majority of those getting the infection and dying are women who are pregnant and it's really disturbing,” he said.
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