Risk factors associated with the recent cholera outbreak in Yemen: a case-control study / 한국역학회지

OBJECTIVES: The cholera outbreak in Yemen has become the largest in the recent history of cholera records, having reached more than 1.4 million cases since it started in late 2016. This study aimed to identify risk factors for cholera in this outbreak. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted in Aden in 2018 to investigate risk factors for cholera in this still-ongoing outbreak. In total, 59 cholera cases and 118 community controls were studied. RESULTS: The following risk factors were associated with being a cholera case in the bivariate analysis: a history of travelling and having had visitors from outside Aden Province; eating outside the house; not washing fruit, vegetables, and khat (a local herbal stimulant) before consumption; using common-source water; and not using chlorine or soap in the household. In the multivariate analysis, not washing khat and the use of common-source water remained significant risk factors for being a cholera case. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioural factors and unsafe water appear to be the major risk factors in the recent cholera outbreak in Yemen. In order to reduce the risk of cholera, hygiene practices for washing khat and vegetables and the use and accessibility of safe drinking water should be promoted at the community level.

Risk factors associated with the recent cholera outbreak in Yemen: a case-control study / 한국역학회지

OBJECTIVES: The cholera outbreak in Yemen has become the largest in the recent history of cholera records, having reached more than 1.4 million cases since it started in late 2016. This study aimed to identify risk factors for cholera in this outbreak.METHODS: A case-control study was conducted in Aden in 2018 to investigate risk factors for cholera in this still-ongoing outbreak. In total, 59 cholera cases and 118 community controls were studied.RESULTS: The following risk factors were associated with being a cholera case in the bivariate analysis: a history of travelling and having had visitors from outside Aden Province; eating outside the house; not washing fruit, vegetables, and khat (a local herbal stimulant) before consumption; using common-source water; and not using chlorine or soap in the household. In the multivariate analysis, not washing khat and the use of common-source water remained significant risk factors for being a cholera case.CONCLUSIONS: Behavioural factors and unsafe water appear to be the major risk factors in the recent cholera outbreak in Yemen. In order to reduce the risk of cholera, hygiene practices for washing khat and vegetables and the use and accessibility of safe drinking water should be promoted at the community level.

Pattern of cause-specific childhood mortality in a malaria endemic area of Burkina Faso

Background: Reliable mortality data are a prerequisite for planning health interventions; yet such data are often not available in developing countries; particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Demographic surveillance systems (DSS) implementing the verbal autopsy (VA) method are the only possibility to observe cause-specific mortality of a population on a longitudinal basis in many countries. Methods: This paper reports all-cause and cause-specific mortality rates in children under the age of five years from 1999 until 2003 in a malaria holoendemic area of north-western Burkina Faso. The DSS of the Nouna Health Research Centre; which VA data were analysed; covers a rural population of about 30;000 (41 villages) and an urban population of about 25;000 (Nouna town). Results: A total of 1.544 deaths were analysed (...)