Some of the patients admitted to the sleeping sickness ward at Dokolo Health Centre By Patrick Okino
A total of 18 people in Dokolo district have died of sleeping sickness. The director of health services, Dr. Samuel Ojok, said the latest death occurred last week and that 11 other people were still admitted and undergoing treatment at Dokolo Health Centre IV. “The cases have become common and we are asking people to come for testing in case anyone feels feverish,” Ojok told journalists at the health centre on Monday. He said the disease spread to the district in 2004 following the arrival of infected animals from the Busoga region for sale by businessmen. Ojok said because the disease presented itself in a confusing form, patients diagnosed with malaria were also being tested for the virus. He added that many people were unaware of the symptoms and that it had resulted into late reporting of the disease. The district has so far recorded 120 cases. Sleeping sickness or human African trypanosomiasis is a parasitic disease of people and animals caused by protozoa and transmitted by the tsetse fly. Its symptoms begin with fever, headaches and joint pains after the parasites enter through both the blood and lymph systems. The district information officer, Musopiri Suwet, said Kwera, Kangai and Dokolo sub-counties were affected with the disease. “The campaign is ongoing and we are asking people to report any person bitten by the tsetse fly,” Suwet told The New Vision. The World Health Organisation has released sh71m to help the district train health officials to contain the tsetse fly, spray of animals and follow up.
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