Aston Lukoye
Butere Boys High School, Kakamega has been shut down indefinitely following the hospitalization of over 100 students.
The students exhibited symptoms that were reminiscent of cholera among them vomiting.
According to reports, the school administration asked parents and guardians to respond to the requirements of their students in different hospitals, while others were asked to pick up their children from school.
Ministry of Health officials as well as those from Kakamega County public health were deployed to develop strategies to swiftly curb the spread of such cases in schools. Additionally, they were tasked with looking for ways to stop a potential cholera outbreak in the country.
In order to prevent further casualties, public health officials put the town on high alert for a potential cholera outbreak while the affected students were sent to Butere Level 4 Hospital.
Butere Boys becomes the second school to be indefinitely closed in Kakamega County after two Mukumu Girls’ High students died of suspected food poisoning and others still hospitalized.
Cholera causes, signs, symptoms, treatment
According to Mayo Clinic, cholera is a bacterial disease usually spread through contaminated water. Cholera causes severe diarrhea and dehydration. Left untreated, cholera can be fatal within hours, even in previously healthy people.
Modern sewage and water treatment have virtually eliminated cholera in industrialized countries. But cholera still exists in Africa, Southeast Asia and Haiti. The risk of a cholera epidemic is highest when poverty, war or natural disasters force people to live in crowded conditions without adequate sanitation.
Cholera is easily treated. Death from severe dehydration can be prevented with a simple and inexpensive rehydration solution.
Symptoms
Most people exposed to the cholera bacterium (Vibrio cholerae) don’t become ill and don’t know they’ve been infected. But because they shed cholera bacteria in their stool for seven to 14 days, they can still infect others through contaminated water.
Most cases of cholera that cause symptoms cause mild or moderate diarrhea that’s often hard to tell apart from diarrhea caused by other problems. Others develop more-serious signs and symptoms of cholera, usually within a few days of infection.
Symptoms of cholera infection can include nausea, vomiting, and dehydration.
