The Christmas and New Year season is a special time filled with joy, festivities, and lasting memorable hangouts with family and friends.
Yet, it’s also a season when germs multiply everywhere, from crowded gatherings to the surfaces of holiday shopping carts.
For families with children, convalescents, and elderly people, keeping the vulnerable healthy during the holidays could be daunting.
Another group of people who suffer mostly during the festive season are those who quickly react to allergies.
Cholera is of high concern this year because of an outbreak that has killed scores of victims and left hundreds hospitalised.
It is a highly infectious disease caused by the Vibrio cholerae bacteria, primarily transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated food and water.
The conditions that often facilitate the spread of cholera include poor sanitation and limited access to safe water sources.
The Ghana Report, in an exclusive interview with Dr. Pansy Caleb Biya Boadi, a medical doctor at the Akuse Government Hospital, revealed that in a season like this, conditions such as typhoid fever, dysentery, gastroenteritis (stomach flu), helminthiasis, and hepatitis A and E are rampant.
Gastroenteritis, also known as stomach flu, is an inflammation of the stomach and intestines that can cause a range of symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, nausea, and loss of appetite.
Helminthiasis, on the other hand, is a medical condition characterised by the infestation of parasitic worms in the human body. These worms can belong to various classes, such as nematodes (roundworms), cestodes (tapeworms), or trematodes (flukes).
Dr. Pansy, in the interview, outlined eight simple health tips the family could observe to avoid getting sick during this festive season.
Below are the health tips.
- Wash your hands thoroughly after using the toilet or changing diapers.
- Heat leftover meals well before eating.
- Don’t handle or play with animals, and put your hands in your mouth without washing them.
- Wear your nose masks.
- Heat meats well enough before consuming them.
- Don’t dig latrine pits and refuse dumps near water bodies.
- Clean your fruits, vegetables, and eggs well before using them for salad.
- Avoid eating soil and clay (ayilɔ) during this season.
- Cover your food to prevent houseflies from transmitting microorganisms onto your meal.