Nearly 500 dead from cholera in Haiti

Port au Prince, Haiti – Nearly four months after its reappearance in this French speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state, the number of cholera victims has risen to 496 dead.

In a statement on Saturday, the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) said the country has already registered 25 182 suspected cases and 21 407 hospitalised, 73 new, while 312 of the 496 deaths occurred in health institutions and 184 in the communities.

In a bulletin, the health authorities state that the average age of those infected is 19 years, and the positivity rate is 37.25 per cent.

Most of the suspected cases – 56.60 per cent are men, and the remaining are women.

The most affected age group is 1 to 4 years old, with 374 confirmed cases out of more than 3,000 suspected cases.

The most affected department is the West, where Port-au-Prince is located and where more than one-third of the population lives, with 1 155 confirmed cases for 16 408 suspected cases.

Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the world is suffering unprecedented cholera outbreaks in countries affected by climate disasters and other crises.

As a result, vaccines to prevent this disease have become “extremely scarce.” (CMC)