Cholera deaths drop as cases rise

 Public Health Institute of Malawi (Phim) data shows that the number of people dying of cholera in the country is declining despite the continued rise of new cases.

The Phim daily cholera updates show that since the country reached its peak on December 30 2022 when 27 people died, the number of people dying has been on the decrease.

During the week between January 5 and 11 2023, Malawi recorded 105 deaths, representing an average of 15 deaths per day an improvement on the week between December 29 2022 and January 4 2023 when cholera claimed 138 lives , representing an average of 20 deaths per day.

The decrease is, however, taking place when the country continues to register a surge in new cases.

In the week between January 5 and 11 2023, the country recorded 3 419 cholera cases averaging 488 new cases per day. On the other hand, between December 29 2022 and January 4 2023, the country recorded 3 015 cholera cases, representing an average of 431 new cases per day.

Public health experts Dr. Gamah Bandawe and Dr. Bridget Malewezi have attributed the decrease in cholera deaths to the possible improved management of cases.

Malawezi, in an interview, noted that it is sad to see high number of Malawians dying of cholera, saying no one should die of the disease as it is preventable.

She said: “That [decline in cholera deaths] might be the reflection on the improved management that either people are coming on time and also the measures that are being put in place are improving.

“We are also seeing a lot of partners putting up addition resources such as tents, antibiotics.”

Bandawe, who is Malawi University of Science and Technology Academy of Medical Sciences head of biological sciences, said cholera case management has improved.

“One [factor] is that the government’s policy of treating cholera patients as close to their homes as possible has helped and the second is that cholera patients are being taken to treatment centres in time,” he said.

But Kamuzu University of Health Sciences head of Community and Environmental Health Professor Adamson Muula said yesterday any news on decline in the case fatality rates is welcome.

However, he observed that any attempt to start explaining the likely cause of the decline in cholera deaths at this point would be speculative.

Muula said: “The case fatality rate for cholera from last year going into this year had been three to four times that which is normally expected for cholera around the world. That was worrisome and the country deserves answers as to what has been going on.

“We have the questions, but not the answers. So, we run the risk that we may be back with higher than normal case fatality rate because the necessary lessons may not have been learned.”

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholera.

As of Wednesday, the country had recorded 22 759 cases with 750 deaths since the first cholera case was recorded in Machinga on March 2 2022.