Kala-azar reported in two-year-old child in Bajura
The toddler was brought to a Primary Health Centre at Kolti for treatment after he fell sick.
KATHMANDU: Kala-azar, or visceral leishmaniasis, has been reported in the Bajura district’s east-north area.
The case has been reported in a two-year-old child at Swamikartik Khapar Rural Municipality-2 in the district.
The toddler was brought to a Primary Health Centre at Kolti for treatment after he fell sick. According to District Hospital, Bajura’s Information Officer Nriparaj Giri, a medical examination on the child revealed that he was infected with Kala-azar.
Giri stated that the infected child was referred to Dhangadi for further treatment due to a lack of medicine at the local healthcare centre.
According to Budhinanda Municipality’s Health Coordinator Om Jung Shahi, a communicable infection caused by a protozoa parasite from over 20 Leishmania species has been reported in four local units in the district’s northern area in the last two years.
In the last two years, 13 cases of Kala-azar have been reported from various locations, including Swamikarti Khapar, Jagannath, Himali Rural Municipality, and Budhinanda Municipality. In the district, all of these locations are adjacent to the Karnali River.
Kala-azar diagnosis and treatment are free in public healthcare centre.
