By: Nyima Sillah
Lamin Sambou, Health Communications Officer at the office of the Health Promotion and Education unit of the Ministry of Health has disclosed that The Gambia has recorded 73 cases of Acute Kidney Injury, while case studies are ongoing at both hospital and community levels
Speaking to The Voice on Thursday, Mr. Sambou revealed that since the start of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) The Gambia has recorded 73 cases as of 20th September 2022.
“There are currently a lot of studies conducted to know the actual cause of this outbreak among Gambian children and because the investigations are yet to be completed we cannot provide much information on the progress.
“Currently, as of the 20th of September we have recorded up to 73 cases and some of these cases are already on treatment and some have gone for treatment overseas. AKI has a cure, some individuals would recover from the illness some it may develop into other chronic kidney problems,” he explained.
He went on to say, as investigations are yet to be concluded, “What we can do to prevent Aki is to ensure that personal hygiene is observed in our homes so that our children are not exposed to bacteria and certain things that may lead to AKI.
“The other thing is that immediately you observed diarrhea with vomiting in children or you have seen that your child is no more urinating or the urine output has reduced so you report to the nearest health center,” he advised.
He, therefore, called on parents not to panic and let them calm down and wait for the investigations. Adding that they will further advise the public on what to do when investigations are done.
Moreso, Sambou emphasised that there is no trend to say that AKI is only found in the province of the Gambia. Adding that the number of cases that they have is across the country. “I think as of now, it is only the North Bank Region where we haven’t yet received a case.”
He noted that recently, they have not launched any campaign for Aki but some case studies are going on at both hospitals and community levels.
“We have received expert teams from CDC Africa and also WHO that are assisting our teams to overcome this current outbreak,” he said.
