A mystery
disease is turning an increasing number of children in east Africa into
zombies.
The condition, known by
locals as the 'nodding disease', drastically alters children's personalities by
making them withdrawn and confused.
One of the first
symptoms of the illness, affecting children in northern Uganda, Sudan and
Tanzania, is that children appear to be falling asleep - their eyes close and
head droops, even though they may not be tired.
The condition gets
progressively worse and can cause affected children, generally aged between
five and 15, to fall and injure themselves
Many die by losing
consciousness and have horrific accidents, like falling into a cooking fire or
drowning.
The condition first came
to the attention of Ugandan authorities in 2009 and has confounded officials
with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Saweka and the Ugandan
government mobilized teams from WHO, CDC, and local health teams but there is
still no known cause or cure for the disease.
Doctors are using drugs
for controlling epilepsy with some limited success but they say it only slows
the progression of symptoms.
No comments:
Post a Comment