Hepatitis E still spreading in Kitgum

At least 53 new cases of Hepatitis E have been recorded among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the northern district of Kitgum at the start of the current rainy season, officials said.



Most were reported in the village health centres of Lukung, Amida, Padibe, Layamu and Kitgum town, according to Sylvester Opira, chairman of the Hepatitis E control taskforce in Kitgum.



"New cases of infection are being received at health centres, with women and children ranking high," Opira told IRIN in Kitgum. Poor sanitation in areas of return for IDPs and the rains had contributed to the spread of the disease.



Few people, Opira said, had latrines in their homes while some were drinking water from unprotected sources, which could be contaminated. "People with no latrines in their homes will be arrested and forced to sink latrines," he added.



Up to 156 people have so far died of Hepatitis E in Kitgum since 2007 when the disease was first reported. Another 9,912 people have been infected.

In some places, people are drinking water from ponds and streams, [thus] spreading the infection

Tony Toolit, the Kitgum district secretary for health, told IRIN the main problem was lack of clean water for people returning to villages. "In some places, people are drinking water from ponds and streams, [thus] spreading the infection," he said.



Toolit said safe water and latrine coverage in Kitgum was only about 40 percent. There was, therefore, a need to scale up prevention messages, provide clean water and assist IDPs with latrine construction materials.



HEV is a viral disease spread along the faecal-oral route. Outbreaks tend to be linked to contaminated water or food supplies. Mortality rates are generally low, ranging from 0.5 to 4.0 percent. But among pregnant women in their third trimester this rate can rise to 20 percent.



[See also: Hepatitis E outbreak on the rise in Kitgum]



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