Seven children die, 100 admitted following malaria outbreak

Doctors at the Kakamega County Referral Hospital attend to children admitted at Ward 5 suffering from malaria. [PHOTO: BENJAMIN SAKWA/STANDARD]

There seems to be a malaria outbreak in the county with, so far, seven under 10-year-old children having died of the same at Kakamega County Referral Hospital on Sunday with 100 others admitted.

The hospital has also been hit by a blood shortage at its bank and this has caused some of the admitted children to become anemic.

Following the situation, the county government has recalled all nursing officers on leave to report back to work in order to help combat the situation.

Speaking to The Standard Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Austine Ajevi attributed the outbreak to the rainy season saying malaria cases have increased with the most affected being children under five years.

He, however, said the current situation has been worsened by parents who do not bring their children for medical attention until their condition is greatly deteriorated.

Dr Ajevi also faulted parents for giving false information when they bring their sick children to the hospital.

"When you ask a parent how long the child has been sick, they tell you for one day yet the child seems to have been sick for over three days, this affects our efforts to provide better services and save lives," he said.

And although health is a devolved function, the county has a shortage of over 2,500 medical staff with Dr Ajevi saying they do not have enough nurses to deal with the situation.

RECALL EVERYONE

"We have received a directive from the Health Director to recall all nurses on leave and we are working on it. As a country we are very far from achieving the World Health Organisation recommended 1 nurse to serve 6 patients ratio. The Kenyan ratio is 1 nurse to 100 patients," he said.

Ajevi said the few nurses available are working overtime and under strenuous circumstances and appealed to the county government to hire additional nurses.

He also called on the public to be at the forefront in the fight against malaria by using mosquito nets for the right purpose.

Health Executive Peninah Mukabane asked residents to take their children to hospital immediately they show signs of illness.

She said death of the seven children is an unfortunate loss to the county adding that taking children to hospital when it is too late is leading to the high mortality rate.

"Most of these children were suffering from severe malaria and lack of blood. Children have a low immunity and parents should therefore take their children for medication early enough," she said.

Ms Mukabane also warned residents against misusing mosquito nets and asked them to use treated mosquito nets to help in the fight against malaria.

USE NETS

"Residents should use treated mosquito nets. Those who do not have them need to get one from the nearest hospital," she said.

A spot check by The Standard of the referral hospital children's ward revealed that the place is crowded with three children sharing a bed.

In the last one year, the county recorded over 400,000 confirmed cases of malaria as the county has 38 per cent malaria prevalence.