Geneva (awp/afp) – The WHO warned on Friday that there were no more oral cholera vaccines left in global stocks, which poses significant problems in trying to stop the spread of the disease.
“As of October 14, the global stock of oral cholera vaccines is exhausted and there are no more doses available,” the World Health Organization said in its monthly report.
“This shortage poses significant challenges to efforts to control outbreaks and hampers efforts to control the spread of the disease,” the organization argued.
Global vaccine production is operating at full capacity, but demand exceeds supply, the United Nations health agency said.
WHO says that between September 1 and October 14, the International Vaccine Supply Coordination Group received requests for oral cholera vaccines from Bangladesh, Sudan, Niger, Ethiopia and Burma.
These requests totaled 8.4 million doses, but only 7.6 million were able to be shipped.
The WHO said 439,724 cholera cases and 3,432 deaths had been reported this year as of September 29. “Although the number of cases in 2024 will be 16% lower than last year, the 126% increase in the number of deaths is very worrying,” she noted.
Since last month’s report, new cholera outbreaks have been reported in Niger (705 cases and 17 deaths) and Thailand (five cases with no deaths), bringing the total number of affected countries to 30 in 2024, it said. the WHO.
This month, a case of cholera was detected in conflict-ridden Lebanon.
The WHO warned that the risk of spread there was “very high” due to the deterioration of health conditions among the many displaced people.
Cholera is an intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with the bacteria vibrio cholerae. It causes diarrhea, vomiting and can kill if not treated with oral rehydration and antibiotics.
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