.Over 10,000 Cases Reported For The Past Four Weeks.
.Symtoms Such As Eye Pain,Swelling,Redness,Itchiness,And Eye Discharge.
.It is A Disease Which Can be Prevented If Only We Consider Good Hand Wash Hygine.
Over 10,000 cases of ‘the red eye infection’ famously known as Conjunctivitis have been recorded in Mombasa County, prompting the county health department to issue an alert to it’s area residents.
According to the county government of Mombasa health department officials said that it was reported that for the last two weeks the County has recorded over 10,000 incidences of the highly contagious and infectious disease in various public and private health facilities.
Addressing the media at the health department headquarters, Mombasa County director of public health and disease prevention Dr. Salma Swaleh said in the last two weeks the County has recorded over 1000 cases and Public School kids are the most affected by the viruses and bactirial infection due to poor school hygiene measures.
“A lot of reports have been coming from schools and madrassa’s where ideally children have been the most affected. We urge parents not to take their children to school in the event they notice any symptoms of this contagious eye disease,” said Dr. Swaleh.
She also said that majority of the children are not reporting to school due to the wide spread of the disease hence decrease the number of school attendance to various public school facilities.
Dr. Swaleh has also urged residents to report any cases of the disease which presents itself with symptoms such as eye pain, swelling, redness, itchiness and eye discharge to the nearest health facility in the County.
“The Red Eye can be caused by viruses, bacteria, allergens, or irritants, and is characterized by symptoms such as eye pain, swelling, redness, itchiness, and eye discharge,if you happen to expirence any of the above kindly report to a nearby clinic for more directions and treatment,” She said.
To curb the spread of the infection, Mombasa County health department and disease prevention, has advised it’s citizens to adhere to stringent hygiene measures.
“Kindly prioritise hygiene measures as the county deals with increased cases of Conjunctivitis, commonly known as the Red Eye.It is a disease which can be prevented if only we consider good hand wash hygiene and avoiding hand shake with infected persons,” Said Dr. Swaleh.
She also called upon parents to keep an eye on school going children noting that if any of the symptoms Persists they should immediately seek medical attention to avoid other eye complications that may occur and they should restrain them from going to school.
Dr. Salma Swaleh further urged residents to prioritize hygiene measures as the ideal way to curb the fast spreading of the disease and urge them to avoid crowded areas with people already infected.
County consultant Ophthalmologist Dr. Nadya Mustafa said the health department is at hand to assist and recommend remedies which will include acceptable home remedies coupled with prescriptions and medical advice from certified health practitioners.
“We have acceptable home remedies which include warm and cold compresses with towels over the red and swollen eyes and in the event symptoms persist one should immediately visit a health facility for treatment” said Dr. Mustafa.
Our neighbour Kilifi County, it’s health officials have also issued a notice to its residents urging them to maintain hand washing with soap and clean water, use of hand Sanitizers and other Precautions.
They have also urged locals to avoid touching or rubbing their eyes, refrain from sharing personal items such as towels, pellow cases eye pencils,face makeups and to temporarily stop using contact lenses until approved by an eye doctor.
Kilifi Health CEC Peter Mwarogo has however said that there is no cause for alarm as the county has previously recorded cases of red eye infections before though for a short period.
The outbreak, which was first reported in Tanzania in December last year, seems to be spreading fast to other areas in the coastal line.
Tanzania has recorded an upsurge in the last three weeks with over 800 cases in Dar-es-Salaam,while in Mombasa we’ve recorded cases of over 10,000 majority being school children.
“We were worned earlier by our neighbouring Country Tanzania about the outbreak of the disease hence we should take alot of precautions to avoid more spread,” said CEC Mwarogo.
