MADRID, 29 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine, Igor Kuzin, assured this Saturday that the country is prepared to act in the event of an outbreak of cholera in the context of the war and the lack of minimum hygienic conditions in those areas where hostilities against Russian troops are developing.
Kuzin has detailed in an interview with ‘ZN,UA’ that Ukraine has a “solid, technical and organizational” base to monitor cholera cases that may occur in the country, and that samples are being collected in the water drinking water, as well as in rivers, reservoirs and other water sources.
“There are clear epidemiological surveillance and monitoring systems for cholera. There are relevant orders that classify the country’s regions into three groups. Each case of severe diarrhea is subject to a separate laboratory study,” explained the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Health in the interview.
Likewise, Ukraine has a vaccine against cholera, with an efficacy of between 80 and 85 percent, which could be used if necessary, according to Kuzin, who on the other hand explained that for now its use is not recommended. use in the country.
Even so, they have asked the World Health Organization (WHO) for “a certain reserve” of the vaccine for the needs of Primary Care workers and other health workers.
So far, Ukraine has not registered even one suspected case of cholera, although the WHO has warned of the possibility of cholera or other infectious diseases spreading in Ukrainian territories occupied by Russian troops.