DRC: on the cholera front

Highly contagious and frequently deadly, cholera is transmitted by oral: through water, food and by dirty hands. This disease is the result of both lacks of hygiene and knowledge of this infection. Every year, the number of victims of the “dirty hands disease” in all the world reaches between 28 000 and 148 000.

INCUBATION PHASE

The incubation phase is the period of time in which the disease expands in people’s bodies. The incubation phase is very short from two hours to five days. This factor strengthens the potentially explosive dynamic of epidemics.

TREATMENT & PREVENTION

Cholera causes water and electrolytes loss due to diarrhoea and vomiting. That is why, to cure the disease, it is necessary to bring people as much water as they lost during their illness, to rehydrate themselves. Hygiene measures, both personal (handwashing, water treatment, defecation in latrines), and collective (drinking water supply, excreta management), allow to prevent new infections.

THE EPIDEMIC TODAY

2015
19 182 cases
276 deaths

2016
28 093 cases
759 deaths

2017
55 000 cases
1190 deaths

OUR FIGHT TO ERADICATE CHOLERA

• Emergency response
• Chlorination points
• Home rehabilitation and disinfection
• Cholera kits distribution

• Prevention
• Implementation of a monitoring system, at the local and provinciallevel
• Medical staff training
• Raising public awareness and changes in hygiene practices

• Creation
• Sustainable water and sanitation infrastructures
• Creation of an autonomous market for water treatment solutions at home

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© Gwenn Dubourthoumieu & SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL