4,000 people affected with cholera in Afghanistan's Jawzjan province

Kabul [Afghanistan], July 21 (ANI): As many as 4,000 people have been affected by cholera in Afghanistan's northern Jawzjan province.
"1,000 people were affected with cholera in Aqcha district, while 3,000 others were infected with the disease in Shiberghan, the capital city of the province, in less than a few weeks," Ghawsuddin Anwari, a senior official for the provincial public hospital said as quoted by Xinhua.
Despite the rapid outbreak, till now no death has been reported in the province so far but the cases are still rising, according to the official.
Notably, most of the patients are from the Aqcha district, where there was a lack of access to clean water.
Health officials in the province said an equipped 100-bed hospital has been dedicated to cholera-affected patients, and it has the capacity of admitting up to 500 patients if needed.
Meanwhile, in Helmand province, at least 20 children have lost their lives due to cholera. And 180 people, including women and children, were infected with the disease in one week in the southern Kandahar province.
Earlier, looking at the cases, doctors urged citizens to take precautionary measures and prevent infections like cholera and diarrhoea.
Mohammad Naeem Akbari, a physician at Infectious Diseases Hospital in Kabul, said that other seasonal diseases include cold, malaria and measles, TOLO News reported.
"In this season of the year, diarrhoea cases have spiked. Around 1,000 to 1,500 people are brought to the (infectious diseases) hospital in Kabul and every doctor visits around 50 to 60 patients a day," Dr Abdulrahman Jawad said.
The doctors added that there is a surge in seasonal diseases because of warm weather and inattention to personal hygiene.
"People should not drink unclean water. They should wash vegetables and soak them in salty water for five minutes," advised Aliya, a physician.
Many children were taken for treatment at Kabul hospital by their parents after they were infected suddenly, local media reported.
"It has been a while since my son is sick. He has got cold," a local Zuhal said.
Earlier, on Saturday, more than 600 people were found infected and around 15 people died in a recent cholera-like outbreak in Afghanistan.
Health officials said that this disease, which causes severe diarrhoea and nausea, has been spreading in the small villages of Dasht, Giro Joy, Tak, Shina, and other areas for the past week or so. (ANI)