Meningococcal meningitis in Masindi
on Mangos, Monkeys and Maggie (Uganda), 26/Jan/2009 13:13, 34 days ago
THE PHOTOS SHOW MAUREEN 24 HRS AFTER HER MENINGITIS TREATMENT SITTING OUTSIDE THE CLINIC AND ON THE BED WITH HER FAMILY.THE BUILDING IS PAKANYI HEALTH CENTRE WHERE SHE IS BEING TREATED.The meningitis out break has continued and I have been able to get out in to the villagers to see what is happening. There have been no deaths in patients who went to health centres but there were 3 more deaths in the villages. Three patients had been seen in one drug shop and treated inappropriately. We visited the shop and found that it was illegally operating as a clinic and giving drips and injections. The nurse in charge could not speak English which means he had not been through secondary school or nursing college in Uganda. The owner of the shop claimed he was trained in the Congo but it seems unlikely. Hopefully the shop has been closed down but I suspect it will reopen some where else. There is money to be made.Some of the patients had been treated in a Catholic clinic. It was unknown to the district officers but was of a high standard. The nurses knew what they were doing and the place was clean with separate rooms for patients. It had been decided to treat all the patients in clinics rather than bring them to the hospital. It was argued that they would get better care in the clinics.The politicians have been visiting the area to look at the preparations. They were not impressed that the district had not provided fuel and transport for the health workers. Some sharp words were evidently said and hopefully things will improve now. Today they have sent vaccines so a mass immunisation campaign is starting. All gatherings have been banned and it looks like the schools will remain closed for an extra week. One of the politicians from Kampala was so concerned that he might catch meningitis he demanded the treatment just in case. The image of a politician having 6 mls of oily chloramphenicol jabbed in to his buttocks will be one of my memories of Uganda.The weather has finally broken and is now much cooler and we have had some rain. This is good for the farmers and should help to stop the meningitis out break. The dust is settling and it is much pleasanter. It could be that this is a temporary respite and we could have dust and heat again but it is nice at the moment.We had unexpected visitors from Hull this week. Mark and Jonathon had a 3 day job out side Kampala and paid us a visit. It is always good to see people from home and we had a great time catching up on news. Maggie took them on a day trip to Murchison falls and was rewarded by seeing a shoebill, a bird she has been desperate to see since we arrived. She is really enjoying the bird life and is very knowledgeable now.