Poor sanitation to blame for hepatitis E in Bentiu camp

JUBA – Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has said the number of patients with hepatitis E and acute watery diarrhea in the camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Bentiu is alarming wholly because of poor sanitation.

The organization said the situation was critical with two deaths registered within a month since the end of July.

MSF said a lack of soap and latrines, as well as open sewers, were among the poor sanitation concerns contributing to the appalling situation for over 100,000 people who live in the camp.

Only around 13 percent of people in the camp have access to handwashing points with water and soap close to the latrines, according to the organization.

Destaw Bantayehu, MSF Holland Medical Coordinator in South Sudan, said over 200 cases of hepatitis E have been registered in the camp since the beginning of 2021.

Destaw stressed that the virus poses risks to pregnant women who are vulnerable to death. He confirmed to City Review in an interview on Friday that two people have died so far of hepatitis E in the camp; one male and another a female aged 27 and 36 respectively.

“Since July, MSF teams have treated four times more patients with hepatitis E than in the previous months. Of 186 cases reported in 2021, over 60 percent were recorded in six weeks between July to mid-August, and among the patients who passed away, one was a pregnant woman,” Destaw explained.

He emphasized the importance of hygiene and sanitation for the IDPs in Bentiu camp, saying it was not only to control hepatitis E but also other diseases such as diarrhea and malaria.

Prevention

Destaw said dislodging, cleaning, and rehabilitation of existing latrines, construction of new latrines, and distribution of soap and water containers were crucial for the IDPs residing in the camp.

“The latrines are not dislodged properly and the number of toilets has reduced significantly compared to what we had last year. Solid waste disposal is very poor at the moment and this leads to a situation where the drinking water gets contaminated,” Destaw said.

Hepatitis E is a viral liver disease prevalent in environments with poor water supply and sanitation.

It is most commonly spread through the oral-fecal route when people ingest water or food contaminated by an infected person’s feces. The symptoms are acute jaundice, which turns people’s eyes and skin yellow, as well as fever, reduced appetite, nausea and vomiting, dark urine, and enlargement of the liver, though people may not show symptoms at all.

Also, Dr. Destaw also reported an increase in cases of malaria in the camp and he called on all actors to come together to address the emerging number of malaria cases in the camp.

“This is also worrying. Last week we have been receiving 300 patients of malaria per day and this week the number has increased to 400 patients per day,” Destaw stated.