From leishnews at gmail.com Mon Jun 29 11:54:50 2020 From: leishnews at gmail.com (Leishmania News) Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2020 11:54:50 -0300 Subject: [Leish-l] Fwd: Fw: PRO/AH/EDR> Leishmaniasis, visceral - Kenya: (KT) In-Reply-To: References: <01000172e77d5f63-db1391a2-2ddd-4d81-a0b2-94562d8c2069-000000@email.amazonses.com> Message-ID: De: Data: quarta-feira, 24 de junho de 2020 Assunto: PRO/AH/EDR> Leishmaniasis, visceral - Kenya: (KT) Para: promed-post at promedmail.org, promed-edr-post at promedmail.org, promed-ahead-post at promedmail.org LEISHMANIASIS, VISCERAL - KENYA: (KITUI) **************************************** A ProMED-mail post > ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases > Date: Sun 21 Jun 2020 7:38 AM EAT Source: Kenyans [edited] Following an outbreak of kala-azar disease [visceral leishmaniasis] in Kitui County, 4 people have died, with 13 others admitted at the Garissa Referral Hospital According to Abdullahi Abdi, the nursing officer in charge of the Garissa referral hospital pediatric ward, the 4 died in just under 2 weeks as more patients kept flooding in from the neighbouring Kitui County. "This is the highest number of patients we've gotten from Kitui. We used to admit 2 to 3 patients a month," he stated. He further revealed that of the 13 admitted, 11 were children all below the age of 10. [PM], whose 5-year-old daughter is currently admitted at the Garissa health facility revealed that he was forced to rush to Garissa as no Hospital in Kitui was equipped to handle the tropical disease, instead referring them to neighbouring counties. "I have been to 3 hospitals. I was first referred to Isiolo hospital from Tseikuru but we were chased away from Isiolo at night over claims that there was an outbreak of COVID-19 in Kitui county. I went to Mwingi sub-county hospital but I was told they don't treat [kala-azar] and referred again to Garissa," [PM] said. "Back at home there are several children with the same problem but their parents cannot afford to bring them here for treatment. There is a looming problem in the 2 wards and I am appealing to the government to urgently send medics there to save lives," he added. Another Kitui resident who had rushed her loved one to Garissa after noticing some of the disturbing symptoms, expressed her concern over the ill-equipped health facilities in Kitui County. "I am urging the Kitui county government to buy drugs and send health workers to the affected wards to treat the sick before more lives are lost. Kala-azar is the 2nd-largest parasitic killer in the world -- only malaria is more deadly. Along with Chagas disease and sleeping sickness, kala-azar is one of the most dangerous neglected tropical diseases. The parasite is spread to humans by bites from infected female sand flies. It attacks the immune system and is almost always fatal if not treated. There are between 200 000 and 400 000 new cases a year, about 90% of which are in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sudan, and Brazil. The sand flies feed on animals and humans for blood, which they need for developing their eggs. If blood containing leishmania parasites is drawn from an animal or human, the next person to receive a bite will then become infected and develop leishmaniasis. Months after this initial infection the disease can progress into a more severe form, called visceral leishmaniasis or, kala-azar. Signs and symptoms include fever, weight loss, fatigue, anaemia, and substantial swelling of the liver and spleen. [Byline: Eddy Mwanza] -- Communicated by: ProMED-mail [The previous ProMED reports of visceral leishmaniasis, VL, in Kenya have been from Marsabit county, which is north of Garissa and Kitui counties. Marsabit is in northern Kenya, Garissa in eastern Kenya, and Kitui in south eastern Kenya. A recent review of leishmaniasis in Marsabit county is found at ref: Kanyina EW. Characterization of visceral leishmaniasis outbreak, Marsabit County, Kenya, 2014. BMC Public Health. 2020; 20(1): 446. doi:10.1186/s12889-020-08532-9; > Visceral leishmaniasis in Kenya is caused by _L. donovani_ and transmission is believed to be mainly anthroponotic (Alvar J, Velez ID, Bern C, et al. Leishmaniasis worldwide and global estimates of its incidence. PLoS One. 2012; 7(5):e35671. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035671; supporting information S50: >). A report on VL in Somalia from the WHO weekly epidemiology records 2017 (Control of visceral leishmaniasis in Somalia: achievements in a challenging scenario, 2013-2015. Wkly Epidemiol Rec. 2017; 92(35): 566-572; >) and a recent study (Al-Salem W, Herricks JR, Hotez PJ. A review of visceral leishmaniasis during the conflict in South Sudan and the consequences for East African countries. Parasit Vectors. 2016; 9(1):460; < https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-016-1743-7 >), concluded that there was a "strong relationship between civil unrest and VL epidemics." - Mod.EP Maps of Kenya: < https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/7CB45377C5B8B126852573E800658AD9-depha_REF_ken080131_a.pdf > and >] [See Also: 2019 ---- Leishmaniasis, visceral - Kenya (02): http://promedmail.org/post/20190817.6627214 Leishmaniasis, visceral - Kenya: (MB) http://promedmail.org/post/20190410.6414948 2017 ---- Leishmaniasis, visceral - Kenya: (MB, WJ) http://promedmail.org/post/20170712.5169782 2016 ---- Leishmaniasis, visceral - South Sudan: (UN) http://promedmail.org/post/20160910.4479134 2015 ---- Leishmaniasis, visceral - South Sudan (02): corr. http://promedmail.org/post/20151126.3820915 Leishmaniasis, visceral - South Sudan (02) http://promedmail.org/post/20151028.3749052 2014 ---- Leishmaniasis, visceral - South Sudan (03) http://promedmail.org/post/20141031.2918104 2012 ---- Leishmaniasis, visceral - South Sudan (03): (JG) http://promedmail.org/post/20121015.1343672 Leishmaniasis, visceral - South Sudan (02): (UY) http://promedmail.org/post/20120916.1295988 2011 ---- Leishmaniasis, visceral - South Sudan (JO, UN) http://promedmail.org/post/20111111.3346 2008 ---- Leishmaniasis, visceral - Kenya (03): (NE), comment http://promedmail.org/post/20080808.2436 Leishmaniasis, visceral - Kenya (02): (NE) http://promedmail.org/post/20080806.2416 Leishmaniasis, visceral - Kenya: (NE) http://promedmail.org/post/20080613.1871 ] .................................................sb/ep/mj/ml *##########################################################* ************************************************************ ProMED makes every effort to verify the reports that are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the information, and of any statements or opinions based thereon, are not guaranteed. 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