{"id":442,"date":"2012-10-01T12:46:39","date_gmt":"2012-10-01T12:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fortuneofafrica.com\/ug\/diseases-in-uganda\/"},"modified":"2012-10-01T12:46:39","modified_gmt":"2012-10-01T12:46:39","slug":"diseases-in-uganda","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/afrifacto.com\/ug\/diseases-in-uganda\/","title":{"rendered":"Infectious Diseases Control"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Ministry of Health<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Ministry of Health is committed to undertake all necessary interventions to control disease in align with its mandate to have a healthy and wealthy population.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Malaria<\/strong><br \/>\nMalaria is an infectious blood disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted from one human to another by the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. Malaria symptoms, which often appear about 9 to 14 days after the infectious mosquito bite, include fever, headache, vomiting and other flu-like symptoms. If drugs are not available or the parasites are resistant to them, the infection can lead to coma, life-threatening anemia, and death.<br \/>\nAccording to the 2010 World Malaria Report, nearly 44,000 people die from malaria every year in Uganda. Though preventable and treatable, the disease is the number one killer of children under the age of five.<br \/>\nThe Government of Uganda approaches to reducing malaria include the following among others:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Indoor residual spraying,<\/li>\n<li>Using insecticide-treated bed nets,<\/li>\n<li>Prevention of malaria during pregnancy,<\/li>\n<li>Appropriate diagnosis and treatment of the disease.<\/li>\n<li>Strengthening malaria control activities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The government is equipping medical personnel and other district officials with the capacity to manage, plan, deliver, and monitor malaria control activities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ebola haemorrhagic fever<\/strong><br \/>\nEbola haemorrhagic fever (EHF) is a viral haemorrhagic fever and one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humankind. The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected persons. Transmission of the Ebola virus has also occurred by handling sick or dead infected wild animals (chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope, fruit bats). The predominant treatment is general supportive therapy.<\/p>\n<p>Ebola &#8212; named after a river that runs through the Democratic Republic of Congo &#8212; is contracted by humans when they come into contact with animals that also have the virus, according to the Mayo Clinic. But from there, it can also be spread human-to-human when a person comes into contact with an infected person&#8217;s bodily fluids, or from needle-sharing. The virus causes a condition called Ebola hemorrhagic fever.<\/p>\n<p>Symptoms of Ebola hemorrhagic fever often include headache, sore throat, diarrhea, fever and even rash and bleeding in some people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These symptoms will usually occur anywhere from five to 10 days after the person has become infected, the Mayo Clinic reported.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, there is no cure for Ebola &#8212; people who have the condition are usually treated by receiving fluids and having blood replaced if they&#8217;ve lost blood, according to the Mayo Clinic and Social mobilization activities are key to control Ebola outbreak.<\/p>\n<p>The Ebola virus was first identified in the western equatorial province of Sudan and in a nearby region of Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1976 after significant epidemics in Nzara, South Sudan and Yambuku, northern Zaire.<\/p>\n<p>There are five distinct species of the Ebola virus: Bundibugyo, C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire, Reston, Sudan and Za\u00efre. Bundibugyo, Sudan and Za\u00efre species that have been associated with large outbreaks of Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF) in Africa causing death in 25-90% of all clinically ill cases, while C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire and Reston have not.<\/p>\n<p>The Uganda Government approaches to control the spread of Ebola outbreak include the following among others:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The government has set up a National Task Force with the capacity to manage, plan, deliver, and monitor Ebola control activities<\/li>\n<li>The Ministry of Health (MoH) working with stakeholders and partners has put in place Ebola control the outbreak response plans at the national and district levels.<\/li>\n<li>Ebola surveillance plans at district level have been finalised.<\/li>\n<li>Experts from MoH, WHO and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are always available to support the response operations,<\/li>\n<li>Supplies and logistics to support management of Ebola patients are in place<\/li>\n<li>The government approaches to prevent spread of Ebola:<\/li>\n<li>Establishment of temporary isolation ward for suspected and probably confirmed cases.<\/li>\n<li>Rapid response to Ebola outbreak<\/li>\n<li>Training medical personnel in handling the Ebola outbreak.<\/li>\n<li>The MoH advice to the public to take measures to avert the spread of the disease and to report any suspected patient to the nearest health unit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you want reliable information on Ebola outbreak please contact MoH and WHO.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>HIV\/AIDS<\/strong><br \/>\nThe human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that infects cells of the immune system, destroying or impairing their function. As the infection progresses, the immune system becomes weaker, and the person becomes more susceptible to infections. The most advanced stage of HIV infection is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It can take 10-15 years for an HIV-infected person to develop AIDS; antiretroviral drugs can slow down the process even further.<\/p>\n<p>HIV is transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse (anal or vaginal), transfusion of contaminated blood, sharing of contaminated needles, and between a mother and her infant during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.<\/p>\n<p>The Uganda AIDS Indicator Survey was done in 2011.The Ministry of Health has announced that the HIV incidence in the country has risen to 6.7%. At this figure, approximately two million people in Uganda are infected with HIV in total, in a country population of 36 million.<\/p>\n<p>The ministry of health confirms approximately 7.7% of women and 5.6% of men are HIV positive.<br \/>\nAnnouncing the study results, the commissioner for health services and national disease control, Dr Alex Opio, had the following to say:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The study had a lot of positive indicators.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;The campaign against sexual networks is working because the study shows that more people are abandoning multiple partners.<\/li>\n<li>HIV incidence is also low among the circumcised people, which shows that the circumcision campaign is working,&#8221; he said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>According to the findings, HIV is higher among women, the wealthier populations, the uneducated, urban women and the widowed.<br \/>\nAt the last Sero-Behavioral Survey of 2004\/05 Sex contributed 76% of new HIV infections while mother to child transmission contributed 22%.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong style=\"line-height: 1.6\">Cholera<br \/>\n<\/strong>Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It has a short incubation period, from less than one day to five days, and produces an enterotoxin that causes a copious, painless, watery diarrhoea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and kills a person within hours if treatment is not promptly given. Vomiting also occurs in most patients.<\/p>\n<p>It can be spread through eating and drinking foods contaminated with faeces of an infected person. Other factors responsible for its spread include; draining latrines into drainage channels, defecating in open places, eating food or drinks prepared under unhygienic conditions and poor personal hygiene.<br \/>\nThe Ministry of Health approaches to prevent the spread of cholera disease include the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stepping-up publicity campaigns to eradicate the spread of the disease.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Surveillance and Epidemiological programmes to detect cases for early treatment<\/li>\n<li>Promptly availing the necessary drugs to the affected areas.<\/li>\n<li>Intensifying public education programmes aimed at preventing disease outbreaks,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The following advice is given by MoH to prevent the spread of Cholera and other water-related diseases:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Boil all drinking water;<\/li>\n<li>Cook food thoroughly and eat it while still hot;<\/li>\n<li>Wash hands with soap before eating food;<\/li>\n<li>Dispose all fecal material in latrines and<\/li>\n<li>Avoid foods and drinks sold on streets and along the roads.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Cholera and the other water-related diseases like Typhoid and Dysentery are more common during the rainy seasons.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Nodding disease (Situation as of 14 February, 2012)<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Uganda Ministry of Health reported a mysterious disease condition, referred to as &#8220;Nodding Syndrome&#8221;, in the Northern Uganda districts of Kitgum, Pader and Lamwo. The condition was first noticed in Kitgum district in 2003, and described as a progressive disease characterized by nodding of the head, mental retardation and stunted growth. The investigations revealed that the disease was a new type of epilepsy that was reported to have affected at least 3,000 children in the districts of Kitgum, Lamwo and Pader in Northern Uganda. As of February 14, it is estimated that a total to 3,094 suspected cases with 170 deaths have occurred.<\/p>\n<p>The disease is mainly affecting children aged 5 to 15 years, with 54% of the affected children being males. Most of the affected children (93%) live in areas where Onchocerciasis (River Blindness) is prevalent. The disease presentation suggests that this is possibly a new type of epilepsy that is characterized by head nodding episodes that consist of repetitive dropping forward of the head. There is deterioration of brain function in some of the victims, and malnutrition with growth retardation; many children have dropped out of school.<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry of Health with support from WHO, CDC and other partners conducted epidemiological investigations in 2009 and 2010. These investigations enabled exclusion of possible etiological agents such as infectious, toxic, or nutritional factors; however the cause of the illness remains unclear.<\/p>\n<p>The association between Onchocerciasis and Nodding Syndrome requires further investigation. A modest deficiency of vitamin B6 and deficiencies of other micronutrients (Vitamin A, Seleniun and Zinc) was found in most cases. Investigations to date reveal that Nodding Syndrome is not transmissible from person to person.<\/p>\n<p>The patients can be effectively treated with anti-epileptic drugs; however, further investigations into the cause of the disease and pathogenesis are planned. The MOH and partners developed a response plan to Nodding Syndrome which includes: case management to prevent deterioration of the cases, bi-annual mass treatment of Onchocerciasis, strengthening surveillance, and multivitamin and multi-nutrient supplementation.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the request to WHO AFRO for technical and financial support, an epidemiologist from the regional office has been deployed to provide additional support to MoH to improve monitoring of nodding disease cases through strengthening surveillance.<\/p>\n<p>The epidemiologist will also support training of health workers on case management in the affected districts and work with the nodding disease research sub-committee in identifying additional research priorities and contribute to finalisation of the existing protocols. Seed funds were provided by AFRO to support some of the key activities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ministry of Health The Ministry of Health is committed to undertake all necessary interventions to control disease in align with its mandate to have a healthy and wealthy population. Malaria Malaria is an infectious blood disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted from one human to another by the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-442","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/afrifacto.com\/ug\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Ministry of Health The Ministry of Health is committed to undertake all necessary interventions to control disease in align with its mandate to have a healthy and wealthy population. Malaria Malaria is an infectious blood disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted from one human to another by the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes.&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afrifacto.com\/ug\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afrifacto.com\/ug\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afrifacto.com\/ug\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afrifacto.com\/ug\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afrifacto.com\/ug\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/afrifacto.com\/ug\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/442\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afrifacto.com\/ug\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}