By Dickens Wasonga.

A survey carried out by KEMRI/CDC shows that 10% of the people living within Kisumu’s slum areas are suffering from Bilharzia.

The three months survey showing the unexpected high prevalence of the disease in the informal settlements of the lake side city has now seen KEMRI/CDC’s neglected tropical branch kick off a spirited campaign to rid the area of Bilharzia through mass drug administration.

Speaking in Kisumu’s Nyalenda B estate on Thursday last week , the KEMRI/CDC neglected and tropical disease principal investigator Dr. Pauline Mwinzi said this is the highest rate to be recorded within a town settlement such as Kisumu.

Dr. MwiNzi said the survey conducted between January and March this year in all the slum areas of Kisumu showed a surprisingly high levels of transmission of the water borne disease that cause fever,malnutrition,anemia and learning disabilitie.

The disease whose high prevalence rates has traditionally been noticed along the shores of lake Victoria also causes general fatigue ,abdominal distention,bloody diarrhoea/urine and anemia.

The study was done in Nyalenda, Bandani, Obunga, Nyamasaria and manyatta areas of Kisumu where Nyalenda B area recorded a massive 35% prevalence rate with Nyamsaria closely behind with 22% while Bandani recorded 20%.

” These rates are considered high for such residential areas and represent the most alarming figures and hence the need for mass deworming” Said Dr. Mwinzi.

Given the study findings , the neglected tropical disease branch of KEMRI/CDC has launched a mass drug administration campaign in the affected areas of Kisumu city.

This is the first time the research institution is carrying out a mass deworming activity in the city or any town settlement set up for Bilharzia.

The KEMRI/CDC researchers said the high prevalence rates in the town was a pointer to inadequate sanitation and poor water safety.

” It is also due to the presence of vector snails that transmit the disease especially in the pool waters found in the estates due to poor drainage” said Mwinzi.

The mass deworming program which began early this month saw 77 teachers from four schools trained on drug administration targetting to reach about 5000 children in selected primary schools in the slum areas of Kisumu.

19 community health workers and 9 village/units elderrs were also trained to reach out an estimated 10,000 children who will not have been covered in schools as well as close to 80,0000 households in Nyalenda B where the first phase was launched.

The community wide treatment kicked off this month with school based treatment at Joel Omino,Nanga,Dunga and Pandpieri primary schools while door to door treatment carried out by the CHWs is also under way.

” The school based program will work very closely with the schools while the community wide treatment is closely working with the community health workers and the village/unit elders to ensure that everybody is covered in the targetted areas.”said Dr.Mwinzi.

KEMRI/CDC two years ago launched a similar campaign against the disease in Rarida district where several fishermen and schools were targetted.

The campaings in Kisumu is supported by the European Foundations Initiative on neglected tropical diseases in collaboration with the municipal council of Kisumu , the ministry of public health and sanitation and KEMRI/CDC.