Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Uganda

Uganda: Weekly up date report Hepatitis E epidemic in Kitgum District 8 - 15 Sep 2008

Attachments

CONTENT

- GENERAL DISTRICT UP DATE

- DESCRIPTIVE HEPATITIS E EPIDEMIOLOGY IN KITGUM DISTRICT 2008

- FOCUS ON AGORO SUB COUNTY AND UGANDA RED CROSS SOCIETY HEPATITIS E ACTIVITIES INTERVENTIONS:

1. GENERAL DISTRICT UP DATE

Table 1: Statistics of Hepatitis E cases (see attached Full Report )

Highlights

- In Epi week 36 (the week 1st to 7th September, 2008) more 10 cases were realized putting last weeks total to 129 and cumulative last week to 8,024 cases.

- A total of 133 new cases of Hepatitis E were registered in Epi week 37, indicating a 3% increase this week, compared to 129 cases registered in the previous week. This brings the cumulative number of cases to 8,157; 62% of which are females.

- Two (2) new deaths were recorded in week 37, bringing the cumulative number of death to 124 with a CFR of 1.5%. Seventy two (72%) of the registered death occurred in women.

- All 19 sub-counties in Kitgum District have now registered cases, thus 100% of the district has been affected. The last sub-counties to come on board this week were Palabek Ogili and Palabek Kal.

- There was a slight increase in the number of Hepatitis E cases registered this week after a consistent 9-week decline in the trend of the epidemic. It is still early to make any deduction on the trend of events. However, it could be plausible that the onset of heavy rains a couple of weeks ago (the 2nd rainy season) have propagated transmission of infections in the community - particularly in the Return Sites/ Villages where safe water sources are limited. This notion is corroborated by the report that chlorination has not been/ is not consistent and comprehensive. If this true, then the prediction is that there will be an upsurge in the trend of the epidemic. A review of the whole control interventions is being conducted. This exercise will then inform the District Epidemic Task Force on the status of interventions and the recommendations thereof.

Emerging Issues

- The Technical Team from the Ministry of Health is ending their mission in Kitgum District on Friday 19 September 2008. However, the District Epidemic Task Force requested the Ministry of Health to extend their stay for another 1 months, for the team to continue providing technical support, stewardship and guiding the interventions.

- It was noted with grave concern that chlorination of water has stopped or is not consistent in a number of sub counties, purportedly because the Agencies involved have run short of funds for paying chlorinators. It was also noted that the transition from bucket chlorination (at source) to household chlorination is not being done systematically: chlorine tablets are being delivered to sub-county headquarters/ health facilities/ Parish levels without adequate sensitization/ promotion and education of communities on proper use of chlorine at household levels; and selection of chlorine distributors/ promoters at village levels. Again, chlorination has not been initiated in the Sub counties of Layamo, Akwang, Palabek Kal, Palabek Ogili, Palabek Gem and Kitgum Town Council despite that fact that all these sub-counties are already reporting cases. A strategy to streamline this is being developed by a technical team.

- The need for direct funding to the District Local Government for Hepatitis E response has been reiterated during the Task Force meeting, stemming from the difficulty in re-aligning Agencies funds towards District's planned priority intervention activities.