Background
The available routine and traditional diagnostic approaches are fraught with many inadequacies. Emerging diseases have continued to defile unsustainable and lukewarm infection control and disease preventive measures in our various healthcare institutions. Unfortunately, needless deaths have continued to claim our healthcare professionals and at large eroding the roadmap to bright future of healthcare for our citizens.
Cholera, caused by Vibrio cholerae has remained a significant threat to public health worldwide. The first recorded cholera outbreak in the country occurred in 1972, marking the beginning of annual outbreaks ever since. These recurrent events highlight the urgent need for improved public health responses and infrastructure. Reports have shown that major cholera outbreaks in subsequent years were particularly in 1991,1996 and 2000. More recently in 2024, the NCDC has reported 1,528 suspected cases of cholera and 53 deaths in 31 states across 107 Local Government Areas. Studies have shown that this disease tends to spread more easily due to poor drainage systems, hygiene practices and limited access to clean tap water.
Early diagnosis can help in setting up community response to mitigate its effect and danger of spread. Cholera
can also spread in healthcare facilities.
Statement of Problem
Responding to the outbreak using the right laboratory diagnostic tools has been challenging due to unpreparedness and scarcity of materials to easily detect and get status of suspected cases. Laboratory tests usually take days before confirmation therefore leading to the spread of the disease among healthcare workers. The symptoms of Cholera vary widely, and diagnosis can be difficult to pinpoint.
Proposed Solution
The symptoms of cholera can be varied and non-specific, using culture methods for diagnosis can be laborious, especially in the early stages of these diseases. It is not only difficult to differentiate cholera from other gastrointestinal infections using traditional culture methods, but this approach is also time-consuming.
Diagnosis of cholera requires laboratory testing, which is only available in reference laboratories. Handling laboratory specimens can be hazardous and must be handled with extreme care. Cholera infections can be diagnosed definitively in the laboratory using the following tests:
• Stool culture
• PCR assays
• Serology tests
Conclusion
The culture method which are mostly adopted by laboratories for analysis of stool samples usually requires extensive manual labor, staring from sample collection, preparation, and incubation at specific temperatures, the complexity of the process can increase the risk of errors, and this requires trained personnel, whom due to the high emigration rate especially in the healthcare sector in Nigeria, may not always be available. This calls for the need of laboratories to deploy frontline on-demand rapid testing which would help to rule out
other diseases hence narrow the suspicion of these critical illnesses and allow for efficient, timely patient centered care and eliminate diagnostic uncertainty.
This approach would enhance early identification and management of cholera, ultimately reducing its impact on public health.
DCL Laboratory Products Ltd proposes to offer a solution designed to enhance the efficiency of cholera testing. This solution features cholera rapid diagnostic kit which shall be deployed to your central and satellite laboratories across the country. This advanced rapid test kit provides timely and accurate results, enabling healthcare professionals to make informed decisions quickly and improve patient outcomes.