Yellow fever alert after 9 test positive in Baringo

Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) officials from Kisumu and Busia to be deployed to the area to monitor the situation after 9 tested positive for yellow fever..

Medical personnel in Baringo and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties have been put on high alert after nine out of 16 of people tested for yellow fever turned out positive.

The area had been put on high alert last week after a 50 year old man succumbed to a disease suspected to be yellow fever in Kapluk area of North Baringo district bringing to six the number of people who have succumbed to the disease since the beginning of the year.

This prompted Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) officials from Kisumu and Busia to be deployed to the area to monitor the situation.

According to Baringo north district Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Dr Felix Atisa, blood specimens for the victims from Kapluk Dispensary and Kabarnet District Hospital taken for analysis at KEMRI headquarters in Nairobi on Tuesday last week revealed that they have the viral disease.

Dr Atisa said that health personnel in all health facilities in the area have been directed to be on the lookout for the symptoms of the disease which include chills, fever, headache, backache, joint and muscle pains and yellowness of the eyes in severe cases, which become noticeable within a period of three to six days after the victim is bitten by the mosquito.

The medic however assured the locals that all health facilities in the area have been stocked with enough drugs in case of any emergency.

He advised the residents to ensure that bushes and empty cans around their compounds were cleared since they were conducive environments for the breeding of mosquitoes.

“We advise the people to take precautionary measures to prevent mosquitoes breeding in their compounds and also spraying insecticides. We also urge those who develop any symptoms similar to those of yellow fever to seek medication without delay,” advised Dr Atisa.

He said that health personnel have also been deployed to the high risk areas to carry out sensitization campaigns to the people.

He said that a mass vaccination of the entire population will soon be rolled out in the area. The last time the exercise was carried out in Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet counties was in 2001.

This was after 15 people died of the disease prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to intervene.

A senior health official who preferred anonymity warned that more people will succumb to the deadly disease if no urgent measures are taken by the government to roll out a mass vaccination exercise.

“Yellow fever vaccines provides immunity for a period of 10 years, which have elapsed since the last vaccination in the area. To make the matters worse the area has not been mapped out to determine the extend of the fatal disease,” said the medic.

Local residents who spoke to the Nation claimed that many people from areas such as Salawa, Kapluk, Barwessa and Seretunin were beginning to develop the symptoms of the disease.

Led by Mr Harold Kipchumba of Bare Carea local CBO, the residents demanded that results from KEMRI be made public by the government.

“Even if the economic impact of such a step is big the life of our people should come first,”said Mr Kipchumba. He feared that the situation will worsen with the expected downpour in the area.

Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet counties; particularly the lower regions are prone to yellow fever.

Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes and can be transmitted from one person to another by the mosquito that bites during the day. The “yellow” in the name refers to the jaundice that affects some patients.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is no cure for yellow fever. Treatment aims at reducing the symptoms for the comfort of the patient. Vaccination is the most important preventive measure against the disease.