He is the first victim since the beginning of the epidemic. A 3-year-old boy died of cholera in Mayotte, the prefecture and the Regional Health Agency announced this Wednesday, May 8, in a statement.
“The child lived in the Koungou district, where several cases of cholera had been identified in recent weeks and which had concentrated intervention efforts and, in particular, vaccination,” the prefecture states.
The Mayotte authorities – who send their condolences to the child’s family – assure that they are “fully mobilized in the fight against cholera in the territory.”
• First cases imported to the island in March
Since mid-March, Maoresi authorities have recorded 58 cases of cholera, including six active cases as of the latest report on May 6. This outbreak comes at a time when a major epidemic is occurring in the Comoros, where there have been 98 deaths and more than 4,900 cases since the beginning of the year.
The first cases of cholera detected last March were also recorded among immigrants from the neighboring Mayotte archipelago. Since then, “native” cases have been detected in Koungou, in the north of the French island.
Cholera, a bacterial disease that can cause acute diarrhea and lead to death from dehydration within one to three days, is transmitted through contaminated water or food.
In mainland France, this disease has become very rare and is mainly reported by travelers returning from infected countries or areas. You have to go back to 1986 to find traces of an outbreak in France, mainly of cases imported from North Africa.
• State services “fully mobilized”
A protocol developed in February to prevent the spread of the disease provides for the disinfection of the patient’s home, the identification and treatment of contact cases and “ring” vaccination, progressively expanding the affected area around the home of the patient affected by cholera.
The announcement of the death of this 3-year-old boy due to cholera occurred on the eve of the visit of the Minister Delegate in charge of Health and Prevention to the French island.
Questioned at the end of March by the Senate about the detection of a first case of cholera imported to Mayotte, Frédéric Valletoux assured that “state services are fully mobilized.”
• Increase in cholera cases around the world
In recent years, cholera cases have increased around the world, to the point that 23 countries are currently reporting cholera outbreaks.
Although the global supply of cholera vaccines increased eighteen-fold between 2013 and 2023, rising demand has created a global shortage. Last April, the World Health Organization approved Euvichol-S, an oral cholera vaccine with simplified composition, with the aim of combating a shortage of doses caused by an increase in cases.
Source: BFM TV
