HEALTH: Yellow Fever Resurfaces in Guinea

By Saliou Samb Reprint | | Print |

Saliou Samb

CONAKRY, Oct 19 2001 (IPS) - Yellow fever has resurfaced in Guinea this year.

Twenty-five cases were reported recently, 18 in Conakry, the capital, alone. Four people have already succumbed to the disease, medical officials say.

In the central Mamou region, 248 people died of yellow fever during the last four months of 2000.

From Sep 2000 to Oct 2001, 869 cases of the disease were reported in Guinea, resulting in 252 deaths.

For the moment, spread of the disease appears to have been checked, although the situation is tenuous and needs to be carefully monitored, says a physician familiar with the epidemic.

Two afflicted individuals from Kindia, 135 kilometres east of Conakry, were brought to the capital for treatment. Special rooms have been equipped at the Donka University Hospital Centre (CHU) in Conakry where all cases have been confined.

Hospital cleaners have been ordered to weed and disinfect the areas near the special rooms to limit the risk of contagion. The special Donka CHU rooms are in the infectious disease ward, where all patients receive free care.

“For yellow fever, it’s important to monitor the cleanliness of the environment. It’s important to make the area inhospitable for mosquitoes, and thus keep puddles and weeds to a minimum,” says Dr. Mohamed Conte, who works in Conakry.

Dr. Prosper Haba, the chief of emergency and epidemiological services for the Ministry of Health, says while the epidemic is under control, the country is not yet out of the woods. “As you see, we only have two confined patients. The remaining 19 people were able to return to their towns and villages after receiving treatment here,” he says.

“Recently we had a fourth death, a woman who had several infections and a very complicated case, according to a medical report. “Since Guinea is situated in a very humid tropical area, we need to take very strict precautions,” the physician explains.

According to Dr. Haba, “The mosquito responsible for transmitting the disease, whose Latin name is Aedes Egypti, does not have the same characteristics as the anopheles mosquito which causes malaria. The Aedes Egypti bites more during the day than by night, and it usually hides in grasses or damp foliage”.

“Given there is no specific cure for yellow fever, we’re urging people to keep their living environment clean. Use of mosquito netting is also recommended,” he says.

Dr. Haba says, “We’ve been in contact with donor nations to ask for funds for a vaccination campaign. We’re eager to get started with this since vaccinations provide ten-year immunity to the disease”.

According to some sources at the Ministry of Health, the programme might cover regions such as Kindia, Conakry, and Nzerekore. Nzerekore borders Cote D’Ivoire, where they’ve declared an epidemic. A vaccination campaign could reach more than a million people.

Recently, 20 people died of yellow fever in Cote d’Ivoire, prompting the authorities there to take emergency measures, including vaccination, to protect the public.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched an anti-yellow fever fund-raising campaign for Cote D’Ivoire to raise 2.9 million U.S. dollars. Cote D’Ivoire and Guinea share a common border.

A WHO rapid evaluation team is presently in the Ivorian capital and is “devoting itself to setting up containment plan” against the disease.

“A mass vaccination plan for some three million doses of the vaccine is being planned in Abidjan. The WHO is trying its best to immediately locate supplies of anti-malarial vaccines (against yellow fever) which can be quickly transported to Cote D’Ivoire,” according to a statement from the agency.

In Guinea, Dr. Haba said, “Doctors Without Borders helped us to launch an effective campaign as the one in Mamou last year which allowed us to eliminate the disease”.

Mamou is a prefecture in central Guinea. Eight million people live in Guinea, a country in West Africa. It borders Cote d’Ivoire on the south, Sierra Leone and Liberia on the southeast, Senegal in the north, and Mali on the east.

“If you were in Mamou last year, you would understand how everyone has a stake in eradicating yellow fever. It was simply horrible seeing so many people vomiting, screaming in pain, trembling and losing control of all their faculties, with nothing but sure death to look forward to,” explains Malick Diallo, a native of the region.

“But when people began making sure that their environment was clean, with the help of the authorities and Doctors Without Borders, the situation quickly changed,” he says.

According to Dr. Haba, “When people are treated very early in the course of the disease, quinine treatment against yellow fever is often quite effective. That’s why we always ask people to immediately report all suspected cases to their nearest health clinic”.