Lalatorook, Lalabitiiro – The controversy surrounding this mystery disease.

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.

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.

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?

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.

  

What we chew or eat has a perilous effect to our dental formulae

By Collins Shahonya

It was time for Kajiado East residents to have their teeth cross-examined. With the long awaited medical camp at Isinya Health centre last weekend, everyone lined up for the free dental check up.

 

patients awaiting teeth check up

Problems from teeth sensitivity, dental carries, broken teeth and peridental disease were common among those who sought the intervention of the experienced dentists sourced from Kenya Medical Training College in Nairobi.

 

teeth examination

It was a tense moment for most of those who were going to have their teeth extracted based on a pre-survey carried out by the teeth examiners who advised on the next step.

 

tooth extraction

With more than ten teeth extracted by mid-morning, it was evident that the residents of Kajiado East constituency take in a lot of sugary substances that lead to dental carries disease.

Too much consumption of cakes, biscuits, sweets ranging from éclairs to the Wrigley’s famous PK and fresh was the largest contributory factor to the dental carries disease while braking of the teeth was rear though using our teeth as bottle openers for the diverse drinks we consume could be a blow to our dental formulae.

A herculean task it was struggling to uproot a well matured molar. Patients had to bear with the pain as the process was being done without the injection of anesthesia.

Everyone needs to choose what they chew or eat to avoid destroying their dental formulae. A similar teeth examination and extraction exercise will be carried out during the April edition of the medical camp.

Slow internet connectivity hampering economic growth

By Collins Shahonya

With the digitization of every sector and with the self proclaimed digital government in power, everyone needs to understand the basics of computer operation and more so internet use.

A constituency with more than 100,000 people, Kajiado East, specifically Isinya town is lugging behind in the wake of the digital era.

And one wonders what our mobile service providers are doing to bring things to normalcy. Safaricom and Orange users and those who own cyber café providing internet connectivity with routers and modems from these service providers are the most disadvantaged lot.

a safaricom antenna at the MRTC,Isinya

A day to a cyber café leaves everyone disappointed and regretting, ending their day with unaccomplished tasks and failing to meet prospective companies and employer set deadlines.

Isinya town has three cyber cafés operating on rat race internet connectivity and a free centre- Isinya Maarifa, an initiative by ALIN which serves well compared to the three sighted cyber cafés.

 

Isinya Maarifa centre

Most of the previous cyber cafés had to be closed down due to poor internet connectivity which has an adverse effect to the chain of interdependence. With one closing his business initiative, the number of those self employed reduces drastically. This brings on board the unemployment ghost that never reduces in our country.

Government services can not be accessed in real time too, and with the said government abolishing newspaper advertisements from it, I fear that Isinya residents will be left in the dark.

Though one can argue that smart phones are adequately available, not all of them which are affordable to the common mwananchi can perform huge tasks like downloading heavy files, opening more than one window, researching and alternating between the opened windows. The phones will be crushing the same day they were purchased.

So the 21^st century is here and everything is super! E-learning, e-driving, e-cooking, e-eating, e-commerce, e-farming, name them! Everything is tilting in the e-direction. A stable and first internet will save everyone from retrenchments due to unmet set targets and accomplishing tasks within a specified time frame.

Our children and grannies will then understand the importance of technology in fostering economic growth. But with our network providers sleeping on their job, then the analogue style of doing things is still here to stay.

An eventful day as the president passes through Kajiado while traveling to Tanzania

By Monica Soila

It was an exceptional occurrence yesterday for the residents of Kajiado County when the President decided to travel by road to Arusha, Tanzania.

The public lined up along the Nairobi-Namanga highway in towns like Kitengela to get a glimpse of their president. For some, it was a prayer answered when he made a stop in Kitengela and Isinya to address the cheering citizens.

His Excellency,the president,Uhuru Kenyatta

‘’We will not tolerate or let anyone harm or divide us on religion grounds or anything like that”, said the president, as he gave a stern warning to terrorists following the depressing incident at a church in Likoni,Mombasa where six people were killed on Sunday.

His excellency,the deputy president,William Ruto

Accompanied by Mr.William Ruto, the deputy president, and some of the cabinet secretaries; the president’s entourage consisted of about 40 cars. This however did not go down well with some members of the public who argued that it would have been cheaper if he had travelled by air.

“Imagine what the country is going through financially, and the president pulls this stunt. Apparently the DP is just seeing him off to Namanga and then he returns to Nairobi; what for? This is wastage of public resources”, said an agitated mwananchi who sought anonymity.

Recently the president visited Uganda with his national identity card only; he is seeking to promote the East Africa integration through free movement of people in these countries as this will in turn improve trade and economies of East Africa.