Dengue campaigns starts in Jomvu after a reported case

Ailing child in Hospital, Dengue fever is spread like Malaria. photo/file

Saturday, April 20, 2013 - 00:00 -- BY CHARLES MGHENYI

PUBLIC health officers from Port Reitz Hospital in Mombasa have embarked on a community health campaign against Dengue Fever after one person was diagnosed with the ailment in the area.
Peter Masika, 33, a resident of 'Staff Kwa Shee' area in Mikindani was diagnosed with the disease early this month at Aga Khan Hospital.
He first fell ill on March 31 and was treated at a local private hospital where doctors misdiagnosed it as malaria.
He became worse and was taken to the Aga Khan hospital where blood samples, taken to Nairobi for comprehensive medical analysis, showed he was suffering from the disease which is spread by the anopheles mosquito.
This comes after Coast provincial director of public health Anisa Omar late last month said the government had contained the disease.
Jomvu DO Kenneth Gitonga said they got information about the victim and informed Public Health officers who came and secured the area by spraying it.
“We had to take immediate action to ensure that nobody else gets infected with this disease which spreads and presents itself like malaria,” he said.
Gitonga said they are working closely with the Public Health Ministry to ensure that all mosquito breeding grounds are sprayed with insecticides.
He said public health officers and provincial administration in Jomvu have embarked on community sensitisation to enlighten residents and reduce the panic which has grasped majority of them.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-117570/dengue-campaigns-starts-jomvu-after-reported-case