Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Corresponding author at: Marmorvej 51, , Copenhagen, Denmark. Combine door-to-door with fixed or semi-fixed vaccination teams. Allow for extended immunization period and self-administered second dose.
Vaccinate frontline health workers since they are at great risk of exposure. On 14 August , massive landslides and floods hit Freetown Sierra Leone. More than 1, people lost their lives while approximately 6, people were displaced. The areas most affected included parts of the town with challenged access to basic water and sanitation facilities, with communal water sources likely contaminated by the disaster.
We conducted a stratified cluster survey to estimate vaccination coverage during the OCV campaign and also monitor adverse events. The Freetown OCV campaign exemplified a timely public health intervention to prevent a cholera outbreak, even if coverage was lower than expected.
We hypothesised that vaccination coverage in Freetown was sufficient in providing at least short-term immunity to the population. However, long-term interventions to ensure access to safe water and sanitation are needed. Since the first cholera cases were reported between and , when the 7 th cholera pandemic hit the African continent [1] , Sierra Leone experienced large epidemics in , , , and the β period Supplementary material , Fig.
In coastal areas in this part of Africa, cholera spread can increase during the rainy season, between May and October, when flooding is common and water sources are vulnerable to fecal contamination [2] , [3]. In , Sierra Leone experienced its largest cholera epidemic in the recent 15 years [4]. From January , and throughout the year, 22, cases and deaths were recorded [5]. Most cases were concentrated in the Western Area, which includes the capital Freetown. On 14 August , this region was hit by massive landslides and floods.
