By Collins Shahonya
A condition that has never been heard before is increasingly
becoming a headache to people staying in Kajiado county which is approximately
77Km from Nairobi. It is a disease that is common among young children ranging
between 3-6 months.
Stories regarding jiggers have been media agenda for long in Kenya.
We do get it right that they are caused by one being exposed to areas with lots
of dust and dirt and that they harbor around our toes, legs and even fingers.
But again it is mystical to say and hear that there is a
‘worm like jigger that harbors beneath the canine teeth of young children and
at their foreskins and clitoris. This is Lalatorook
(bad teeth) that you have never heard of in your life time.
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| Gaps in one of the child's dental formulae due to teeth extraction |
Lalatorook, Lalabitiiro has signs and symptoms that resemble
the malaria disease. Children diarrhea stool that is greenish-yellow in color,
experience headache, fever, vomiting and depreciating in weight. It has caused
death among children, more than 1000 kids losing their precious lives to the
disease.
Kenya Medical Research Institute that is mandated to carry
out research on all aspects of health has kept mum about this disease. My
rounds of visits to this Institution bared no fruit, insisting that they have
never seen or heard about the disease living me wondering who should research
on their behalf.
Some people in Kajiado East constituency are in the opinion
that the disease spread to Kenya from Tanzania, where it is referred to as ‘Lalawa’. The disease was common in cows
in the early 80’s and now it has shifted to affecting children from all the
pastoralists’ community. Could it be because they drink raw blood and milk and
that they are fond of ‘nyama choma?’
The treatment is controversial as some circumcise both boys
and girls as a preventive measure against Lalatorook.
Rubbing the baby’s gums with soda ash until bleeding point has been done with
no success.
Girls are the worst hit lot since removing the jigger from
their clitoral hood is done with a hot needle, piercing the clitoris and a part
of it is cut away. So you wonder is this treatment or female genital
mutilation? Seemingly, FGM is still to be practiced and with the female genital
mutilation act operational, this disease will be an excuse in performing FGM
since the medical fraternities are gazing on what this disease could be!
An interview with a practicing doctor left me in a limbo. He
regards the problem as plastic teeth which are abnormal hardening of the gum resembling
teething. He admitted to have never treated this disease and the causes which
he does not know.
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| The doctor during the interview |
How then does he treat a disease whose causes he does not
know? A lady whose son had the disease said the doctor prescribed Ashton and oral rehydration salts as treatment which had
no positive results and day by day his son’s condition got out of control.
This brings in an herbalist who has been able to treat the
disease with success. She uproots the teeth and milk from the mother’s breast
is the ultimate treatment. Does it mean breast milk can cure certain diseases?
That can be only answered by the Centre for Disease Control, an affiliate body
to KEMRI.
Though the herbalist has saved many lives, the issue of
hygiene, FGM can not be downplayed. Are her instruments of treatment sterilized
to keep Tetanus at bay?
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| The lady herbalist |
The doctor overlooked existence of jigger. He terms all this
as Smegma - accumulation of fluids
and chemicals produced in the body as dirt which resemble Lalatorook – the worm like jiggers. See also http://mobile.goaskalice.columbia.edu/vaginal-smegma?nocache=1.How
does this come about? He regards the pastoralists’ community as unhygienic to
some extent. But what are the herbalists treating if this disease does not
exist? Who knows!
Some children have not got their teeth back since they were
uprooted. Is this style of medication from the herbalists point of view result
oriented though with long term effects that can never be rectified?
The matter is very controversial and crucial one that ought
to be addressed effectively because it has the potential of causing high infant
mortality rates not only in Kajiado but all round the globe, especially if it
is a disease that can be spread over to other regions.
Docusound Kenya (www.docusound-kenya.org),
a radio documentary site will publish this documentary on this subject matter
just soon. It has caused a ripple effect on this issue and people are already
researching and debating over it. Be part and parcel in working out a long term
solution to this horrifying disease. Your thoughts and ideas are greatly
cherished.
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