This past week, more than 1,850 patients with cholera and cholera-like symptoms were treated every day in Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and MSF-supported structures.

MSF continues to operate 47 cholera treatment centers throughout Haiti and is planning to open more in the near future to serve new areas where the disease is now also being found. Cholera treatment centres should open soon in the southern towns of Les Cayes and Jérémie, while additional exploratory missions as well as outreach communications to teach people how cholera spread and how it is treated are being conducted elsewhere in the same region.

MSF has more than 4,000 staff members working on cholera in Haiti, and they have treated more than 75,000 patients since the start of the epidemic. Some 13,000 new patients presented in the past week across the country.

In Port-au-Prince, there was a big spike in the number of cases the week of Dec. 13, when traffic in the capital was snarled and mobility limited during days of unrest following the announcement of the preliminary results for the presidential elections. The numbers at MSF’s cholera treatment centres in the city jumped from 2,000 new cases during the week of Dec. 6 to 4,100 cases the week of Dec. 20.  The rate of progression did slow down Dec. 18 and 19 however, when the situation in the capital stabilized. MSF’s cholera teams have treated more than 21,000 people in the capital in the past two months.

In Nord department, there were more than 3,500 new cases the week of Dec. 13 but there were not the same kind of rapid increase in numbers as in Port-au-Prince. The situation in the department seems to be stabilizing as the numbers of new cases plateaus.

In Nord Ouest department, MSF treated more than 1,100 new cases last week. That brings the number in the area to approximately 7,000, but the caseload seems to be stabilizing there as well. The same is true for the northern parts of the Artibonite region where the epidemic began. In the southern part of Artibonite, the numbers actually started to drop last week. There were 1,200 new cases in the whole of Artibonite, pushing the total there to more than 26,000.

There were also 250 new cases in the Ouest department, not including Port-au-Prince, and in southern Haiti, there more than 100 new cases in the Sud Est department, 130 in the Sud department, and 200 in Nippes, where there had not been any cases previously.

The overall case fatality rate remains below two per cent, but MSF continue to press efforts to educate communities – particularly those where the disease is just now appearing – about cholera, its causes and treatment in hopes of assuaging fears and helping people understand why new treatment centres are crucial to treat patients and arrest the spread of the disease.

“In places where we’ve been able to effectively communicate with communities, we have seen some stabilization and even some decrease in the numbers of new cases,” says Delphine Chedorge, MSF’s head of mission in Haiti. “This is a crucial aspect of the cholera response, because people need to know what they are dealing with, what they can do to help people who have contracted the disease, how they can avoid contracting it in the first place.”

“It is hardly surprising that people would be anxious about cholera when it appears in their communities for the first time,” says Chedorge. “But as we tend to the new cases that present at our programs and that our assessment teams find in areas that haven’t had medical services until now, we also need to make people understand that opening new cholera treatment centres in or near their towns and villages can help stop the spread of the disease, protecting their communities, rather than endangering them.”

Related News:

 Cholera cases decline but vigilance continues - 23.02.2011 16:52

 MSF nears 100,000 cholera patients treated - 14.01.2011 12:31

 Opinion: Cracks in the foundation - 13.01.2011 14:14

 Despite massive aid response, significant needs remain one year after quake - 10.01.2011 00:05

 84,500 Haitians treated in wake of cholera epidemic - 03.01.2011 15:13

 In Labour, With Cholera - 15.12.2010 16:16

 MSF extends cholera treatment in north and south  - 15.12.2010 11:11

 Treating pregnant women who have cholera - 14.12.2010 10:26

 MSF continues aid despite unrest  - 13.12.2010 11:58

 Cholera still worrying in rural areas - 10.12.2010 10:20

 Nurse recounts sense of urgency in cholera work - 03.12.2010 11:22

 MSF calls on all actors to step up cholera response - 19.11.2010 11:30

 A Cholera Emergency (Photo Slideshow) - 18.11.2010 12:12

 Critical cholera prevention activities far below needs - 17.11.2010 11:08

 Toll nears 1,000. Situation expected to get worse - 16.11.2010 10:53

 MSF steps up cholera response in Port-au-Prince - 13.11.2010 15:19

 Photos: Ensuring access to cholera treatment - 12.11.2010 12:55

 Hospitals in Port-au-Prince are overflowing with patients - 12.11.2010 11:05

 Increasing suspected cholera cases in Port-au-Prince - 09.11.2010 15:00

 MSF scales up operations in the north - 09.11.2010 13:00

 Working to prevent epidemic's spread - 08.11.2010 12:31

 Treatment continues, assessments ongoing in north - 02.11.2010 17:08

 Continuing cholera treatment in Petite Rivière - 29.10.2010 12:08

 Demonstration disrupts cholera response - 27.10.2010 09:58

 900 treated in 2 days in cholera outbreak - 26.10.2010 17:26

 MSF treating cholera patients - 25.10.2010 10:13

 MSF intervening in cholera-affected area - 22.10.2010 11:20