Health makes announcement as cases spike across Honiara and Guadalcanal, majority of cases are children below 5-yo
BY LORETTA B MANELE
The ministry of health has announced a diarrhoea outbreak in Honiara and Guadalcanal.
Majority of cases are children under the age of five.
While no death has been reported, the ministry is urging citizens to be vigilant and take precaution as the symptoms can be severe.
The Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) continues to actively monitor the increasing trend in diarrhoeal disease through its weekly syndromic surveillance system and has confirmed diarrhoeal outbreak in Honiara and Guadalcanal province, a MHMS statement yesterday said.
From the latest surveillance information, more than 800 (83.3 percent) compared to previous weekly report. Most of the cases are from health facilities in Honiara and Guadalcanal, the statement said.
From additional surveillance information, majority of the cases identified are mostly children under five years specifically in the age group 1 to 4 years of age. A total of 17 children below 10 years of age have been admitted with diarrhoeal symptoms to the NRH Children’s ward between May 30 and June 21 and 13 of them are in the most affected age group. To date, no deaths have been reported, MHMS said.
Meanwhile, rotavirus was detected by the National Referral Hospital (NRH) Medical Laboratory on June 16.
As of June 25, a total of nine out of 18 stool samples have tested positive for rotavirus on rapid diagnostic test (RDT), MHMS said.
Rotavirus is not a new disease for Solomon Islands however in previous rotavirus outbreaks there have been significant deaths in children under five years of age, MHMS said.
In the 2014 rotavirus outbreak, there were more than 4000 cases reported with 27 deaths and in 2015- 2016, more than 9000 cases with 32 deaths were reported. Majority of the deaths occur in the provinces.
Since 2020, rotavirus vaccine was introduced for infants less than 6-months given at 6 weeks and 10 weeks old. The rotavirus vaccine is highly effective to reduce the severity of rotavirus infection even during outbreaks. The situation is evolving and soon provinces will likely to see increasing trend in diarrhoea cases. Also given there has been several mass gathering events happening in Honiara and Guadalcanal over the past two weeks and at present, there is increased risk for continuous spread of rotavirus to provinces.
MHMS is very concerned about the rise in cases and calls on everyone to continue good hygiene practices (eg. washing of hands with soap and clean water or use of alcohol hand sanitizers).
Parents and guardians are advised to bring your child to your nearest clinic if your child shows the signs and symptoms of diarrhoea or vomiting, please take them to nearest clinic without delay, the MHMS statement said.
For feedback, contact:[email protected]
