Two rivers used extensively for baptisms are the suspected cause of the latest cholera cases as four new infections were confirmed in Gauteng.
The victims include a 10-year-old girl from Katlehong in Ekurhuleni, who was taken to Mpilweni Private Hospital on March 19 with diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting. Her results confirmed her positive status and she was the ninth confirmed case, said national health department spokesperson Foster Mohale.
The department discovered that the girl and her mother were baptised a week earlier with other church members in the Klip River.
“It was established during the investigation that her mother was admitted at Thelle Mogoerane Hospital on March 17 and was treated for different health conditions. She unfortunately passed away the following day,” Mohale said.
The seventh and eighth cases are a couple from Diepsloot who were baptised in the Jukskei River with six other people on March 18. A few days later, the wife, aged 38, and her husband, 49, experienced health complications, said Mohale.
They were admitted to Helen Joseph Hospital last Tuesday with acute watery diarrhoea and severe dehydration.
River baptism suspected to be cause of the latest cholera cases
Four new cases of cholera have been confirmed in Gauteng and all the patients had been recently baptised in the Jukskei or Klip rivers
Image: Phathu Luvhengo/TimesLIVE
Two rivers used extensively for baptisms are the suspected cause of the latest cholera cases as four new infections were confirmed in Gauteng.
The victims include a 10-year-old girl from Katlehong in Ekurhuleni, who was taken to Mpilweni Private Hospital on March 19 with diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting. Her results confirmed her positive status and she was the ninth confirmed case, said national health department spokesperson Foster Mohale.
The department discovered that the girl and her mother were baptised a week earlier with other church members in the Klip River.
“It was established during the investigation that her mother was admitted at Thelle Mogoerane Hospital on March 17 and was treated for different health conditions. She unfortunately passed away the following day,” Mohale said.
The seventh and eighth cases are a couple from Diepsloot who were baptised in the Jukskei River with six other people on March 18. A few days later, the wife, aged 38, and her husband, 49, experienced health complications, said Mohale.
They were admitted to Helen Joseph Hospital last Tuesday with acute watery diarrhoea and severe dehydration.
'What cholera?' ask residents of Emandleni in Wattville where first cholera death was recorded
The tenth case was detected in a pastor who baptised the Diepsloot couple at the river. She said she also drank water from the river.
“She was detected by the health response team during contact tracing and field investigation, having diarrhoea and vomiting. Though she was not admitted her stool was taken for laboratory testing and the results came back positive,” Mohale said.
The confirmed cholera cases have now increased to 10, with water from the Jukskei and Klip rivers being the suspected source for the recent cases.
All four patients have no recent international travel history, which suggests the transmission took place locally.
“All four patients are recovering at home and are in stable condition.”
The first two cases were detected in two sisters who had travelled to Johannesburg from Malawi. They were found to have been in contact with eight other people.
TimesLIVE
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