By Mustapha Jarju
Ministry of Health, on Monday, 31st October 2022, said the exact cause of the Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) which caused the death of seventy (70) children cannot be confirmed as of now until the study and investigation into the matter are completed.
“As of now we cannot ascertain the general Causes of this AKI among these children because we have to do a lot of studies”, said the Health Ministry.
The Gambia currently has eighty-two (82) cases out of which fifty (50) are male and sixty-one (61) male confirmed to have AKI, out of the total of 82 reported cases, seventy (70) children died from Acute Kidney Injury.
“The youngest child as part of the AKI victims is between 1 and 2 months old and the oldest was around 7 years.”
Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) Communication Focal Person, Lamin Sambou who was speaking at a press briefing held at the Central Medical Store in Kotu said they have cases of AKI in all areas across the country except Farafenni.
He disclosed that AKI can cause by an infection, usually caused by E. coli Bacteria, which can be found within the environment, water, and food among others.
Among the signs and symptoms of AKI is that it can result in blockage of the structures and blood vessels in the kidney, and also taking medicines that may be toxic to the kidney.
“Certain chemicals that are found in medicines or certain ingredients found in medicines are known to cause AKI. In the case of the Gambia, our suspected chemical is DEG and DG, according to experts chemicals that are found in medicines in control limits, which if gone beyond the limits can cause serious damages,” he stressed.
Mr. Sambou added that, with a lack of proper personal hygiene or in-form cooking of food among others, AKI can cause an infection in the kidney that will cause that permanent damage to the kidney.
He continued that “the Gambia has twelve (12) of the 82 been recovery, various patients have recovered and the kidney functions have been restored and they are continuing with their life.”
He, therefore, called on the general public to seek medical attention from hospitals before buying medicine from the pharmacies; medicines should be only taken when they are prescribed.