Health experts in Gulu say there is hope in the ongoing search for an effective treatment for nodding disease, an ailment that has affected thousands and killed hundreds, of children under fifteen years in Acholi sub region over the past few years.
The doctors at Gulu hospital say they have discovered that Carbamesefin drug can help to treat neurological disorder that is responsible for the nodding.
The disease has previously been confined to Pader and Kitgum districts, where it has killed at least 100 children while thousands continue to battle with little or no treatment. Last Saturday, the disease was first reported in neighboring Gulu district where cases have been reported in Odek and Palaro sub counties.
David Ngole, the LC3 chairman of Palaro Sub County told Uganda Radio Network that two cases of nodding disease were confirmed in the area last Saturday. He said the residents reported what they suspected to be the symptoms to health authorities who later confirmed the cases.
Ngole explained that the children aged 11 and 15 years were previously living at Lacekocot in Pader district before they recently moved to Palaro in Gulu district. He said the news of cases of nodding disease in the area has sent fear among the community members who are now pleading with the district authority to educate them on how to prevent, detect and control the disease.
Ventorina Aol, a 71 year old resident at Pokogali village, Palaro Sub County is the grandmother of the children. She says that she had no idea that her grandchildren had the disease until some of the residents invited health authorities to go and verify the symptoms they were showing. Aol said her family has now been isolated following the confirmation. She explained that some of her own family members have also isolated them following the confirmation of the disease. The children have, however, been admitted at Gulu hospital together with two others who have also been diagnosed with the disease.
The experience of Ventorina’s family indicates the myth and lack of information many people still have regarding nodding disease.
William Odur, a senior psychiatric clinical officer said a total of six children are under medication from the disease including two who are in the outpatient department. Odur explained that they are using Carbamesefin drugs to treat neurological disorder and control the nodding. He added that the children are responding well to treatment.
Canaan Katerega, another senior psychiatric clinical officer at the hospital said they were investigating why most of the nodding disease cases were along the River Aswa belt. He noted that the disease could be having correlation with river blindness. Katerega also noted that most of the families plagued by the disease live in abject poverty with the children, usually in the age group of 3 to 15 years severely malnourished.
He revealed that the community has begun to stigmatize the affected families adding that even marriages are breaking up due to the infection that many suspect to be contagious.
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He added that poor reporting of the disease among the health practitioners has also led to poor management and research on the cause. He said most times, the medical practitioners have been generalizing the disease with epilepsy making it difficult to widen the research on the new disease.
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But Dr Nathan Onyac, the Gulu hospital director of health said that they have a ray of hope following discovery that Carbamesefin drug could be used to effectively control neurological disorder that causes the nodding.
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Onyac explained that there is need to establish a centre where nodding disease patients can be treated for malnutrition at the same time they are treated for other conditions for effective results as investigations continue.
Presently, a team of experts from the Center for Disease Control and prevention has joined the Ministry of Health officials in Uganda to conduct a multifaceted investigation in Kitgum District. Dr. Jennifer Foltz, an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer says they initially got the request from the Ministry of Health in November 2009. Foltz explains that the team comprising pediatric infectious-disease specialist, pediatric-nutrition specialists, toxin expert, and a neurologist has made a step ahead by discovering that the disease is a new seizure disorder.
