Cholera Is Simple to Treat, but Deaths Are Surging

They were up 71% in 2023, despite cases only being up 13%
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 11, 2024 11:15 AM CDT
Cholera Is Simple to Treat, but Deaths Are Surging
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/ktsimage)

The number of cholera cases rose 13% in 2023 compared to the year prior. But deaths surged 71%, with 4,000 confirmed, reports the World Health Organization in a new analysis. "For death rates to be rising so much faster even than cases are increasing, this is totally unacceptable," said Philippe Barboza, head of the WHO's cholera team, per the New York Times. "It reflects the world's lack of interest in a disease that has plagued humans for thousands of years, afflicting the poorest people who cannot find clean water to drink." The WHO flags an increase in so-called "community deaths"—those experienced by people outside of health centers, reports UN News.

The reach of the diarrheal disease is also expanding, with 45 countries logging cases in 2023, compared to 44 in 2022 and 35 in 2021. The rise has been pronounced in southern Africa, where extreme weather has curtailed people's access to water. In those cases, "they often crowd around a few sources, which, if they become polluted, can quickly sicken thousands," per the Times; the disease is spread through contaminated food and water. In Zambia's capital, Lusaka, the number of cases became so overwhelming the government had to erect a cholera treatment center in a stadium.

Death via dehydration can come in as little as a day, but treatment is equally rapid: antibiotics and "a simple bag of oral rehydration salts that [costs] 50 cents," per Barboza. Vaccines cost as little as $1.50 per dose, with two doses providing four years of protection. But there has long been a shortage due to a shrinking number of manufacturers who produce it. (More cholera stories.)

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