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The Star (Nairobi)
10 September 2014
Kenya: Strange Form of TB Returns to Haunt Kenyans
By John Muchangi
The relatively unknown type of the disease, which attacks any body part, is becoming a major killer as hospitals struggle with poor diagnosis
When she was tested for the 15th time without any successful diagnosis, Jackline Emali knew she was dying.
Her head throbbed constantly and her hands were painfully swollen from injections. Since December 12, she has been treated for pneumonia, malaria, flu, typhoid and taken countless doses of antibiotics.
"I thought I was going to die. At first I thought it's the morning cold from Kangemi that sickened me because I rise very early to sell Mandazi. I later suspected somebody upcountry must have bewitched me because I took so many drugs without getting better," Jackline says.
She collapsed one day in March last year and one side of her body was paralysed. But that's when her salvation came. She was rushed to Mbagathi District Hospital where quick-sighted doctors immediately ordered for CT scan.
Results came in positive for tuberculosis (TB). Jackline, 30, was shocked because she was not coughing.
"She had TB meningitis, which develops insidiously in the brain with vague symptoms such as aches and pains, loss of appetite, tiredness, and a persistent headache," says Dr Thomas Ogaro, the head of extra-pulmonary TB in Nairobi County. "TB can affect any part of the body, not just the lungs."
Such manifestations of the disease - collectively known as extra-pulmonary tuberculosis - are currently ravaging many Kenyans because of poor diagnosis...
The Star (Nairobi)
10 September 2014
Kenya: Strange Form of TB Returns to Haunt Kenyans
By John Muchangi
The relatively unknown type of the disease, which attacks any body part, is becoming a major killer as hospitals struggle with poor diagnosis
When she was tested for the 15th time without any successful diagnosis, Jackline Emali knew she was dying.
Her head throbbed constantly and her hands were painfully swollen from injections. Since December 12, she has been treated for pneumonia, malaria, flu, typhoid and taken countless doses of antibiotics.
"I thought I was going to die. At first I thought it's the morning cold from Kangemi that sickened me because I rise very early to sell Mandazi. I later suspected somebody upcountry must have bewitched me because I took so many drugs without getting better," Jackline says.
She collapsed one day in March last year and one side of her body was paralysed. But that's when her salvation came. She was rushed to Mbagathi District Hospital where quick-sighted doctors immediately ordered for CT scan.
Results came in positive for tuberculosis (TB). Jackline, 30, was shocked because she was not coughing.
"She had TB meningitis, which develops insidiously in the brain with vague symptoms such as aches and pains, loss of appetite, tiredness, and a persistent headache," says Dr Thomas Ogaro, the head of extra-pulmonary TB in Nairobi County. "TB can affect any part of the body, not just the lungs."
Such manifestations of the disease - collectively known as extra-pulmonary tuberculosis - are currently ravaging many Kenyans because of poor diagnosis...