Department responds to community concerns on reported cholera cases
The department also urged the public to use only reliable sources and verified information on causes of death confirmed by laboratory tests. It cautioned the public not to rely on opinions not scientifically supported by facts.
On Thursday, 8 June, the Free State Department of Health confirmed a second person had died
of cholera in the province. The patient was from Parys.
Mondli Mvambi, the spokesperson for the department, said the 42-year-old woman was admitted
to Boitumelo Hospital in Kroonstad, where she died.
On 24 May, the province confirmed its first cholera death when a 33-year-old woman from Vredefort died after being admitted at the Parys Hospital. Parys and Vredefort form part of the Ngwathe Local Municipality.
The province has recorded 11 Â confirmed cholera cases (including the two patients who died).
All the patients were from Parys and Vredefort.
Thus far, cholera cases have emerged in Gauteng, Free State, Mpumalanga and North West provinces.
During an earlier visit to Hammanskraal north of Pretoria, President Cyril Ramaphosa said it had
cost the death of several people for the government to realise the water crisis in Hammanskraal,
going on for years now, must be resolved urgently.
In Gauteng, 29 people,especially from Hammanskraal, died of cholera.
President Ramaphosa said he was shocked by the condition of the Rooiwal Water purification
plant in Hammanskraal and added that it was time the country started looking after its infrastructure.
In its statement, the Free State Department of Health once again called on everyone to continue
washing their hands and boiling their water before consuming it.
Should you experience symptoms of diarrhoea, please go to the nearest health facility to get help
urgently, the department said. The department also urged the public to use only reliable sources and verified information on causes of death confirmed by laboratory tests. It cautioned the public not to rely on opinions not scientifically supported by facts.
The statement followed after community members raised their concerns, saying the province’s cases were under-reported. They claim more people in the area have presented with cholera symptoms, resulting in more deaths than reported.
In an interview with Newzroom Africa on Friday, the CFO of Parys District Hospital, Ms Malinga, said the hospital hadseen 108 patients with diarrhoea and vomiting concerns to date. Some were referred by clinics and
others came directly from home. They were seen and treated, andswabs were taken and sent to the laboratory.
She said it takes some time for laboratory-confirmed results asthe results of specimens are only
available around three days afterthe NHLS receives them. If theresults relate to cholera, they are sent to the NICD (National Institute for Communicable Diseases). After that, it takes five to seven days, sometimes 10, for the department to receive them.
On Friday, it was estimated that around 16 test results were still outstanding, but she said it was unlikely that there were more cases as the stools of patients with diarrhoea differ from those with cholera. She said the cases they had seen were not as serious as you would see with patients having cholera.
She stressed that, to date, only 11 cholera cases could be confirmed with laboratory tests.
Malinga assured that swabs are taken from patients presenting with diarrhoea symptoms. No new cases had been reported since last week, the department confirmed.
