Cumulative Hepatitis e cases now at 8045 since outbreak declaration – report
The country has recorded 8045 cumulative hepatitis e (HEV) cases since the outbreak began in December 2017, the Ministry of Health’s current situation report indicates.
The situation report states that the recent figures include 2108 laboratory-confirmed, 4745 Epi-linked, and 1192 suspected cases.
According to the ministry, most cases were reported from Khomas Region compared to other regions, accounting for 4954 reported cases, followed by Erongo 1710, while the remaining regions account for 1381 of the reported cases.
“The majority of HEV cases, 5733 are among the age group 20-39. Few cases, 16 were recorded among under 1 year. The majority of the cases are among males 4764 compared to females 3281,” the report states.
According to the ministry, during 2020, five HEV deaths were recorded of which two are maternal deaths, one occurred in February 2020 and the other one in September 2020, which was the last death recorded thus far and no death has been reported during 2021.
“Since the outbreak began, cases have been reported mainly from informal settlements such as Havana and Goreangab in Windhoek, DRC in Swakopmund and Kuisebmund in Walvisbay, and similar settings in other regions where access to potable water, sanitation, and hygiene is limited,” they said.
Meanwhile, the ministry’s report said that generally, a significant downtrend had been observed in the number of HEV cases reported.
Namibia declared the HEV outbreak on Dec.14 2017 in Windhoek, Khomas region.
