Monday, March 12, 2007
Nigeria's Neglected Diseases: Making the Case for Schistosomiasis - NPR
Schistosomiasis affects millions of children in developing countries. A microscopic parasite slowly eats away at their intestines, their colon, their liver and their urinary tract, causing bleeding and anemia. Yet the debilitating disease does not kill, and it is not an international health priority.
...
Dr. Julie Gutman is helping health officials find out how many children in Nigeria are infected.
...
For her project, Gutman battled muddy roads and pouring rain on her drive to the village of Fobur. She stopped at the house of the village chief to get the children to come to the local school at 10 a.m. Yet few from the age group Gutman needed — ages 10 to 15 — showed up on time.
A second request by the chief yielded enough children, who crowded onto the small wooden benches in one of the classrooms.
In order to detect schistosomiasis, feces samples must be sent to a lab. To get samples, Gutman asks children to put some of their feces into cups that she provides.
In the first village she went to, the kids were so excited about the red cups that they didn't use them as intended or bring them back. With lids that seal, they were "far too nice," said Gutman, who now gives children a present when they return the cups. ...
Schistosomiasis affects millions of children in developing countries. A microscopic parasite slowly eats away at their intestines, their colon, their liver and their urinary tract, causing bleeding and anemia. Yet the debilitating disease does not kill, and it is not an international health priority.
...
Dr. Julie Gutman is helping health officials find out how many children in Nigeria are infected.
...
For her project, Gutman battled muddy roads and pouring rain on her drive to the village of Fobur. She stopped at the house of the village chief to get the children to come to the local school at 10 a.m. Yet few from the age group Gutman needed — ages 10 to 15 — showed up on time.
A second request by the chief yielded enough children, who crowded onto the small wooden benches in one of the classrooms.
In order to detect schistosomiasis, feces samples must be sent to a lab. To get samples, Gutman asks children to put some of their feces into cups that she provides.
In the first village she went to, the kids were so excited about the red cups that they didn't use them as intended or bring them back. With lids that seal, they were "far too nice," said Gutman, who now gives children a present when they return the cups. ...
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