135, 000 receive oral cholera vaccine in Nsanje
A campaign which four teams were implementing aimed at preventing the spread of cholera outbreak in Nsanje has seen close to 135, 000 internally displaced persons in the district receiving the Oral Cholera Vaccines (OCV).
The teams – John Snow International Institute, the International Vaccine Institute, Nsanje District Health Management Team and the World Health Organization (WHO) – said the measure was aimed at preventing and controlling the spread of cholera.
According to a report by the Department of Disaster Management Affairs published last month, the outbreak which started in February this year affected over 423 people and claimed 6 lives in some districts affected by floods.
But a statement released on Monday by WHO Health Promotion Officer Hudson Kubwalo said the first round of the OCV exercise which commenced on March 30 and ended on April 30 covered 98 percent of the targeted persons living in camps and surrounding communities.
According to the statement the results show that over two thirds of the target population (67 percent) received the recommended two doses and are therefore fully immunized while in the second round 16 percent received only one dose.
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