{"id":186521,"date":"2013-11-23T03:51:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-23T03:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dabangasudan.preview.websight.nl\/2-000-infected-with-kala-azar-in-north-darfur\/"},"modified":"2013-11-23T03:51:00","modified_gmt":"2013-11-23T03:51:00","slug":"2-000-infected-with-kala-azar-in-north-darfur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/2-000-infected-with-kala-azar-in-north-darfur","title":{"rendered":"2,000 infected with kala-azar in North Darfur"},"content":{"rendered":"

A medical officer reported that there are 2,160 patients infected with the kala-azar disease among the displaced people in Zam Zam camp in El Fasher, North Darfur.<\/p>\n

1,500 of these patients are infected with skin kala-azar, and 660 with membrane kala-azar, which is \u201ca killer\u201d according to the medical officer.<\/p>\n

He said that the costs of treatment per patient amounted to SDG600 ($ 100). No cure or health care has been established by the Sudanese government or humanitarian organizations for kala-azar since the disease emerged in 2009.<\/p>\n

There also is no commercial clinic in El Fasher treating patients carrying this parasitic disease, the officer noted.<\/p>\n

Ring worm, malaria, diarrhoea, typhoid<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, residents of Zam Zam complain about the spread of ring worm, especially among the middle school students, as well as malaria, diarrhoea, and typhoid.<\/p>\n

Around 40,000 pupils and students live in the Zam Zam camp. One out of every three students is infected with ring worm.<\/p>\n

The medical officer appealed to authorities and organizations working in the field of environmental sanitation to intervene and provide medicines and health care.<\/p>\n

Kala azar in South Sudan<\/strong><\/p>\n

The kala-azar disease keeps coming back. Displaced people in Zam Zam have been a victim of the virus, which is transmitted by the bite of a sand fly, in January 2013.<\/p>\n

And now it is on the rise in the northern Jonglei and Upper Nile states of South Sudan, according to a medical report of M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (MSF).<\/p>\n

The number of patients being treated for the \u2018black fever\u2019 is even higher than the last major peak of 2010. Without treatment, nearly all patients die.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past three months we have treated many children, most of whom are malnourished. We are also treating adults.<\/p>\n

Our main concern  is that most patients are arriving late to the clinic, especially those coming from far away locations,\u201d says Alison Buchanan of MSF.<\/p>\n

File photo: MSF nurse treats a patient with kala azar in Jonglei (MSF)<\/em><\/p>\n

Related: Kala-azar found amongst children at Zam Zam camp<\/a> (15 January 2013)<\/em><\/p>\n


<\/em><\/p>\n