we explain to you the status of the epidemic which caused the first death

Since the appearance of a first case in mid-March, 58 others have been identified in the archipelago and the prefecture announced on Wednesday the death of a 3-year-old child. The Minister of Health is visiting the island on Thursday and Friday to take stock of the situation.

The cholera epidemic claimed its first victim in Mayotte. A 3-year-old child died on Wednesday May 8, the prefecture and the Regional Health Agency (ARS) announced in a press release. This fatal case occurred on the eve of the visit of Minister of Health Frédéric Valletoux. The first cases of this disease were recorded in mid-March on the island, among people returning from neighboring Comoros, where the epidemic is surging with 98 deaths, according to the latest official report. Here is what we know about the health situation in 101^e French department.

A 3-year-old child died on Wednesday

This is the first death recorded in the territory since the detection of a first case, March 19. The child lived in the Koungou district, where “several cases of cholera had been identified in recent weeks”explains the press release from the local authorities, and where the ARS had deployed a screening center and mobile vaccination units. “The intervention teams went to the site to treat those close to the child”they specify.

At the microphone of France Inter, the Liot deputy for the first constituency of Mayotte, Estelle Youssouffa, declared on Wednesday that it is “tragic to think that a child died of cholera in a slum in a French department in 2024. What is even more serious is that we saw it coming”she laments. “We are always faced with authorities who are late, who minimize”, regrets the chosen one. She recalled the situation on site: “We always have water cuts” And “a single hospital with five emergency doctors”. An observation which highlights “the entire population in danger”according to her.

Cholera is an illness caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with bacteria. Three-quarters of infected people express no symptoms. But when it manifests, the disease can be formidable for 10 to 20% of cases, with severe diarrhea and vomiting which cause accelerated dehydration. In the absence of treatment (rehydration salts and antibiotics), cholera is one of the most rapidly fatal infectious diseases: death can occur within one to three days.

At least 58 cases have been recorded on the island since mid-April

At this stage, 58 cases have been identified on the island, according to an ARS information bulletin established Monday, before the announcement of the child’s death. There were only 10 listed on April 15, after a first case detected on March 19. This outbreak comes as a major epidemic is underway in the neighboring archipelago of the Comoros, where there have been 98 deaths and more than 4,900 cases since the start of the year.

If initially, the Mahorais cases were those of people returning from the Comoros, now the health authorities are now reporting cases “native”, that is to say diagnosed in patients who have not left Mayotte. The health situation on the island is worrying: the Minister of Health Frédéric Valletoux is going there on Thursday and Friday, a visit planned for several days.

In France, cholera has become a rare disease, mainly reported by travelers returning from infected countries or areas. There have been an average of zero to two cases per year since the early 2000s, according to the Ministry of Health. But, as a result of climate change and the increase in conflicts, the number of cases reported – only part of the proven cases – is currently exploding around the world, underlines the WHO. They more than doubled between 2021 and 2022 to reach 473,000, then climbed further to more than 700,000 in 2023.

Health problems in Mayotte are highlighted by the epidemic

A protocol, developed in February by the ARS to prevent the spread of the disease, provides for the disinfection of the patient’s home, the identification and treatment of contact cases and “ring” vaccination, i.e. by gradually expanding the area concerned around the home of the patient suffering from cholera. PMore than 4,000 “contact” people have been vaccinated to date, according to the ARS. But elected officials are pleading for the vaccination campaign to be more massive. Problem: vaccine stocks are limited all over the world, leading health authorities to reduce the number of doses administered. In February, the ARS of Mayotte only had 1,800 doses.

MP Estelle Youssouffa spoke on Wednesday on the social network “emergency”. “I ask Gabriel Attal for massive vaccination and tablets to disinfect water as well as hydroalcoholic gel, distribution of bottled water”. The parliamentarian also requests the “closure of the border at sea to prevent the entry of illegal patients from the Comoros”. Mansour Kamardine, LR deputy from Mayotte, also demanded at the end of April “a general vaccination plan (voluntary vaccination) accessible to all, particularly children and vulnerable people”.

If two units for the management of cholera cases have been set up in medical centers in Mamoudzou and Dzoumogné, theThe usual staffing levels cannot cope with the influx of patients. To compensate for this shortage of caregivers, uAbout twenty people, from the health reserve, arrived from France on May 2, as reinforcements, franceinfo learned from the ARS. Finally, the inaction of the State in Mayotte regarding access to drinking water is denounced by some, such as epidemiologist Antoine Flahault. On the islanda third of residents do not have access to drinking water.