First Read:
A God Creation or a creation by human kind!!!!Mysterious Nodding Disease hits Northern Uganda
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/02/god-creation-or-creation-by-human.html
Mulago, police block media from accessing patients
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1359214/-/axupwtz/-/index.html
By Stephen Otage
Posted Monday, March 5 2012 at 00:00
The Kitgum Woman Member of Parliament, Ms Beatrice Anywar, clashed with Mulago Hospital administrators and the police, after they attempted to confiscate cameras from journalists who had gone to cover patients of the nodding disease syndrome yesterday.
The clash erupted as journalists tried to take photographs and videos of the patients who were seated on the floor of the pediatric ward at the Acute Assessment Centre watching television.
The hospital administration has since Saturday barred the press from covering the 25 patients, who arrived at the hospital on Friday evening, after being detained in Gulu Distrcit on their way to Kampala for treatment.
The patients and attendants booed the hospital executive director, Dr Byarugaba Baterana, when he attempted to explain that the media was barred from covering them because the hospital respects their confidentiality.
“Even when we were in Kitgum, the local authorities stopped journalists from coming to the villages to see the situation,” an unidentified attendant said.
Meanwhile, the hospital authorities yesterday announced that government has taken over the management of the 25 patients after it emerged that most of them had different ailments.
“We have one we have done a CT scan on and we found that he has meningitis and a brain tumor, while others have known epilepsy and the rest have conditions which are not related to nodding,” said Dr Hellen Aanyu, the doctor who has been attending to the patients since they arrived.
Not new illness
According to Dr Banterana, the nodding syndrome is not a new phenomenon because it has been in existence elsewhere since 1962.
“This syndrome was in southern Tanzania and South Sudan in 1962 and now it has come to Uganda. We do not know what causes it but we have taken samples. Some of these children came when they had convulsions while others were dehydrated but we managed to resuscitate them and we are progressing well with their management,” he said.
According to Ms Anywar, good Samaritans have started donating assistance to the patients.
sotage@ug.nationmedia.com
