Cholera cases drop in NCD

 By ELIZABETH MIAE

THE number of patients being admitted at the Port Moresby General Hospital’s (PMGH) cholera treatment centre (CTC) has decreased over the last week.

National Capital District (NCD) cholera taskforce leader Dr Timothy Pyakalyia said yesterday that only seven people were admitted over the weekend. 

Pyakalyia said they are hoping that it would continue that way, adding that the situation could change anytime due to the health behaviours of individuals.

He said cholera was still around but if the CTC continued to see less number of patients for five or six weeks then it meant that people were looking after themselves.

Pyakalyia said that it was good news for the health workers that less number of people were going for treatment but it was too early to say that the city was safe from cholera.

So far NCD had recorded 1,734 cases and five reported deaths since the outbreak last May.

The latest victim was a male adult who suffered from kidney disease and contracted cholera. 

He explained that in any place where there was an outbreak of cholera, the case fertility rate (CTR) or expected deaths was between 20-50% however medical staff at the CTCs in NCD had managed cholera patients very well which had resulted in a CTR of 0.5%.

Pyakalyia said because staff were trained and on high alert, lives were being saved during the peak of the outbreak last year.

He appealed to the public to be cautious of what food they ate and to be mindful of safe hygiene practices.