10,000 doses of vaccine against cholera will be made available to the population of the archipelago devastated by the passage of Cyclone Chido, the Minister of Health announced on December 19.
“I am very vigilant about the health state of the population of Mayotte and the risk of epidemics which could unfoldr”, declared this morning on “RTL”, Geneviève Darrieussecq, resigning Minister of Health, specifying that she “made contact with the WHO to deploy health monitoring” on this territory. The minister also stated that “10,000 doses of vaccine have been prepositioned so that we can vaccinate the population if there is the slightest outbreak of cholera.”
For the moment, no cases have been detected on the archipelago which was almost destroyed during Cyclone Chido. But in a context where water can be quickly contaminated by fecal matter, the State wants to anticipate any resurgence of the disease and, if necessary, be able to vaccinate the population. The Ministry of Health has every reason to be concerned. Indeed, between March and July last year, a re-importation of cholera occurred in Mayotte. This epidemic caused 14 serious cases requiring hospitalization in intensive care, as well as 5 deaths. out of some 221 reported cases. ARS Mayotte then initiated vaccination of front-line workers, first with Dukoral for household contacts, then with Vaxchora, for residents in a nearby radius. The High Council of Public Health (HCSP) has also issued recommendations to continue these vaccinations in 3 levels, depending on the evolution of the cholera situation in Mayotte. From March, community pharmacists, as well as other professionals, were also authorized to carry out rapid diagnostic orientation tests (TROD) for cholera.
In the current context, nothing allows us to determine whether the pharmacy network can be mobilized again. Pharmacies, like many buildings, were hit by the disaster. The holders and their teams, themselves often affected by the passage of the cyclone, are investing in ensuring the maintenance of priority care in extreme conditions, as recounted by Gérard Eap, holder in Dzaoudzi, in a testimony given to the Union community pharmacists unions (USPO). Wholesaler-distributors are also using all the means at their disposal to guarantee the supply of medicines and medical equipment to the 27 pharmacies in the archipelago. However, Vincent Theodoly, manager of Pharmar (Reunion) and Coharmay (Mayotte), two subsidiaries of the wholesale distributor CERP Bretagne Atlantique, declared on December 18 to “Quotidien du Pharmacist” that only around fifteen pharmacies could be reached.
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