Francis Mugerwa
31 October 2008
Hoima — Medics have identified the disease that claimed six pupils of Iguru primary school, in Hoima District last week as cerebral malaria.
For a week, medics were perturbed by the killer disease, which also affected three other pupils of the same school. "Medical tests on the patients have proved that the disease is cerebral malaria," Dr Ruyonga told Daily Monitor on Wednesday.
Reports of the hitherto strange disease caused panic in the mid-western Uganda district as many residents feared it could be an epidemic. Some residents were inclined to believe that the victims were just bewitched.
Following reports of the disease, the chief administrative officer, Mr Walter Iriama, held an impromptu meeting with members of the district health committee to draw ways of containing it. Symptoms of cerebral malaria are high body temperature, stomachache, headache, vomiting, nasal-bleeding, body pain and general body weakness.
If not treated, the disease can kill within 72 hours. The exact cause of this type of malaria is still a mystery. Mr Iriama said the government has constructed the required health facilities and deployed medical staff in Kigorobya and all sub-counties in an effort to improve the health conditions of residents.
"There is Kigorobya and Kapaapi health centres in the sub-county. Let residents use them and avoid seeking treatment from herbalists who often con them and in turn offer them unprofessional treatment," Mr Iriama said.
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