Something Not Right About Exponential Outbreak Of Viral Conjunctivitis Aka ‘Red Eyes’ In Tanzania That Is Now Spreading Across Parts Of Africa!
Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Jan 30, 2024 9 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, 12 hours, 11 minutes ago
Medical News: Initially reported in late December, the incidence of red eyes or viral conjunctivitis in Tanzania has now grown into a worrisome outbreak with over 4,792 treated cases in just Dar es Salaam alone in the last two weeks and many thousands more that have yet to come forward for treatment.
Exponential Outbreak Of Viral Conjunctivitis Aka ‘Red Eyes’ In Tanzania
The sheer numbers along with other unusual manifestations such as severe headaches, chronic fatigue, body pains, gastrointestinal issues including diarrhea and bleeding and swollen lymph nodes in the neck and head are raising alarms.
Local health officials have discounted any bacterial infections being involved after running a first round of detailed testing.
While viral conjunctivitis can typically be caused by adenoviruses, herpes viruses such as simplex virus, varicella-zooster and epstein-barr virus and also by picornaviruses such as coxsackievirus A24 and enterovirus 70, they typically resolve fast and do not manifest too many other symptoms.
To date the viral agents involved have not been identified as the Tanzanian health officials have not got the WHO involved yet.
Local
Medical News reports are indicating that the outbreak of red eyes has now extended to 17 regions across Tanzania.
It was reported that in In Dar es Salaam alone, the number of patients rose from 869 to 4,792 in two weeks. Aside from major cities like Dar es Salam, Morogoro, Coast and Dodoma, other regions where the disease is now prevalent are Iringa, Katavi, Kilimanjaro, Mara, Mwanza, Njombe, Ruvuma, Singida, Simiyu, Mtwara, Lindi, Songwe and Rukwa.
https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/national/-red-eye-disease-outbreak-spreads-to-17-regions-4507386
Professor Dr Paschal Ruggajo, the Director of Curative Services of Tanzania said earlier this month that the disease had also been detected in Morogoro, Coast and Dodoma regions and called on Tanzanians to take precautionary measures, including washing their hands frequently.
https://dailynews.co.tz/tanzania-issues-alert-over-red-eyes-outbreak/
https://newscentral.africa/tanzania-health-ministry-alerts-public-over-red-eyes-outbreak/
https://www.thecable.ng/tanzania-issues-alert-over-outbreak-of-red-eye-disease
However, the ministry said in its latest statement that the disease had spread to 17 regions by last Friday.
The outbreak has now also been reported in Mombasa in Kenya where more than 1,000 infections ha
ve been reported.
https://ntvkenya.co.ke/news/conjunctivis-outbreak-mombasa-county-issues-alert-on-red-eye-infections/
https://ntvkenya.co.ke/news/conjunctivis-outbreak-mombasa-county-issues-alert-on-red-eye-infections/
Again, the serious accompanying symptoms such as severe headaches, chronic fatigue, body pains, gastrointestinal bleeding, diarrhea and swollen lymph nodes are being reported there as well.
Emerging data also indicate that there are also smaller ‘red eye’s outbreaks being reported in various geolocations in Zambia, Uganda, Congo, Rwanda and Somalia.
With the vast numbers involved and also various geolocations involved along with the accompanying symptoms, urgent diagnostics, studies and analysis are urgently warranted. To date, no deaths have yet to be associated with the outbreak.
Thailand
Medical News will be providing more updates on the unfolding situation as we procure more reliable data.
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