The Lagos State Government has urged administrators of public and private schools to make sure that students maintain proper hygiene in order to stop the cholera outbreak, prior to the start of the midterm and Eid-el Kabir breaks.
“We are still on high alert, we are not relaxing in any way so that we protect our children.
“Don’t collect treatments on streets, don’t go and take antibiotics, you may not need to, you may just need rehydration,” he said.
Abayomi disclosed that since the cholera outbreak in the state, not less than 15 persons had died because they started treatment late.
“We lost not less than 15 persons within five days, which is sad. Most of those people were brought in dead or died soon after arrival because they left it too late,” he stated.
According to the commissioner, cholera is associated with diarrhoea and vomiting.
“When you have diarrhoea, you can revive yourself by drinking water, but with vomiting, you dehydrate easily and the system shuts down.
“It is a contagious disease; so, the same principle applies: good sanitation and use of water.
“Be sure of the water you are drinking and the source of food you are eating,” the commissioner added.
He also advised residents of the state to go to general hospitals and primary health centres to access free treatment, if they suspected the disease, to avoid more fatal cases.
“If you develop symptoms, come quickly so we can address it.
Additionally, keep in mind that the government pays for all medical care during a public health emergency. We can only quickly attract people in that manner.
Because the bacteria is still present in the community, we are still expecting an issue.
He said, “It’s in the water or people are still recovering from cholera and they could spread it.”
However, Abayomi claimed that the number of instances has gradually decreased.
“The quantity has decreased. Since yesterday, there hasn’t actually been a case of cholera reported, according to Abayomi.
The professor said that there was a need to nip it in the bud by collecting environmental samples.
“We are working with the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources by collecting environmental samples.
“The moment we picked up, through our surveillance, the increasing number of cases of severe gastroenteritis and vomiting, we realised that there was a sudden spike.
“On the 10 June, we saw about 140 cases in Lagos Island, Lekki and Kosofe.
“We realised that something was happening. We activated what we call emergency operation centre, which has multiple pillars, to investigate what was happening across the state,” he noted.
