Faruque, Abu S. G., Khan, Azharul Islam, Nahar, Baitun, Islam, S. M. Rafiqul, Hossain, M. Nasif, Abdullah, Syed Asif, Khan, Soroar Hossain, Hossain, Md. Sabbir, Khan, Feroz Hayat, Prajapati, Mukeshkumar, Widiati, Yulia, Hasan, A. S. M. Mainul, Kim, Minjoon, Musto, Jennie, Vandenent, Maya, Clemens, John David, and Ahmed, Tahmeed
Background: Bangladesh experienced a sudden, large influx of forcibly displaced persons from Myanmar in August 2017. A cholera outbreak occurred in the displaced population during September-December 2019. This study aims to describe the epidemiologic characteristics of cholera patients who were hospitalized in diarrhea treatment centers (DTCs) and sought care from settlements of Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) as well as host country nationals during the cholera outbreak. Methods: Diarrhea Treatment Center (DTC) based surveillance was carried out among the FDMN and host population in Teknaf and Leda DTCs hospitalized for cholera during September-December 2019. Results: During the study period, 147 individuals with cholera were hospitalized. The majority, 72% of patients reported to Leda DTC. Nearly 65% sought care from FDMN settlements. About 47% of the cholera individuals were children less than 5 years old and 42% were aged 15 years and more. Half of the cholera patients were females. FDMN often reported from Camp # 26 (45%), followed by Camp # 24 (36%), and Camp # 27 (12%). Eighty-two percent of the cholera patients reported watery diarrhea. Some or severe dehydration was observed in 65% of cholera individuals. Eighty-one percent of people with cholera received pre-packaged ORS at home. About 88% of FDMN cholera patients reported consumption of public tap water. Pit latrine without water seal was often used by FDMN cholera individuals (78%). Conclusion: Vigilance for cholera patients by routine surveillance, preparedness, and response readiness for surges and oral cholera vaccination campaigns can alleviate the threats of cholera. Author summary: Bangladesh observed a large-scale arrival of forcibly displaced individuals from Myanmar in August 2017. The Bangladesh Government, UN agencies, and international and national non-governmental organizations responded immediately with extensive humanitarian response. However, threats of cholera outbreaks were prevailing. The Government of Bangladesh as lead, with technical support from icddr,b collaborating with international agencies undertook a massive oral cholera vaccination (OCV) campaign immediately as a pre-emptive measure to alleviate threats of the cholera outbreak. Despite that mass OCV campaign, threats of cholera outbreak were existing due to new arrivals of the displaced population with compromised host susceptibility, frequent visits to settlements by Bangladesh nationals without exposure to OCV, and the declining vaccine immunity among OCV recipients as well as an increasing number of cohort children without any exposure to OCV. The population faced a cholera outbreak during September-December 2019. This study aims to describe the characteristics of cholera patients, their care-seeking pattern, camp-wise distribution, source of drinking water, sanitation facility, OCV status, and share the experiences from effective interventions to prevent a cholera outbreak. Vigilance for cholera patients by routine surveillance, preparedness for both preventive and control measures, and response readiness for surges and OCV campaigns can alleviate the threats of cholera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]