Chronicle EditorThandeka Moyo Health Reporter
TWO suspected typhoid cases have been reported at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo. According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care weekly surveillance report, the two cases were among 22 new suspected typhoid cases detected in the country. The report said no deaths were reported from the cases recorded during the week ending November 5. “From the reported cases, 20 were from Harare City Health and two from Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo,” the report said.
It said the total number of typhoid cases recorded so far this year has risen to 514 suspected cases, with 54 confirmed. No one has, however died from typhoid in the country. Mpilo acting clinical director Dr Xolani Ndlovu said he had not yet received any report on the two cases of typhoid. Bulawayo City Council had not responded to questions sent to it by the time of going to press.
BCC senior public relations officer Mrs Nesisa Mpofu recently said the city has put in place an emergency preparedness plan to help tackle any possible outbreaks of the disease. She said the health delivery system was well geared to deal with any disease outbreaks. “In the event of a typhoid case, we have a ward set aside for such diseases at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Thorngrove suburb.
“To also prepare for such emergencies, the City of Bulawayo crafted an Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP) which outlines the framework for dealing with such epidemics should one arise in Bulawayo and ensures that the city is prepared for such emergencies,” said Mrs Mpofu.
Signs and symptoms of typhoid usually appear one to three weeks after exposure and may be mild or severe. The symptoms include poor appetite, abdominal pain, headaches, generalised aches and pains, fever, intestinal bleeding or perforation, diarrhoea or constipation, among others.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter