Saturday, 12 February 2011

Introducing Ronald

Saturday 12th February
Working again today as not too many people around. One of the things that struck me was how much of a bill some people accumulate One young man had only been in around 2 days but because of scans and intravenous treatments he has 130,000 UgSh which is around £35 which is a great deal for these people. The other catch phrase seems to be “Out of stock” with many commonly needed items not available. At present the only treatment we have for malaria is Quinine. It really is down to organisation as other malaria treatments are readily available in Uganda
Over the last 3-4 days a quiet revolution has been taking place as many of the staff have been taught how to perform a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for malaria This is a very sensitive test and could revolutionise the way people are treated with far fewer being blindly treated using quinine as happens at the moment as much more accurate diagnosis would be possible
The new RDT malaria Kits
One 2 year old I have already taken to heart is Ronald. He really looked pitiful when I first saw him yesterday. Unfortunately he is very ill with widespread enlarged glands in his neck and groins and severe pneumonia He almost certainly has TB He did seem a little more cheerful so Ill let you know how he gets on.
Ronald's nasty looking Chest Xray for those who are medically inclined! And Ronald himself!

No comments:

Post a Comment