Over 88 cases of Hepatitis E have been reported in Doro Camp of Upper Nile State, according to a medical source.
The health worker reported that in a period of 27 days the camp has reported 88 cases of Hepatitis E, explaining that 5-6 case per day are reported to various units in the camp.
“We have 88 cases with 3 death cases,” he said. The officer added that the three deceased were all women, two of whom were pregnant.
The medical officer said that patients suffering from the disease display signs like yellow urine and eyes, joint pains and general body weakness.
There has been much confusion in the camp because many people want treatment but there is no medical treatment available for the disease; it is a preventable but not treatable disease. One camp resident told Radio Tamazuj: “We resort to traditional treatment because there is no treatment available to us.”
He described the traditional treatment as involving the use of fire to burn the affected part, which exposes the victim to more pain.
The medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders has embarked on an awareness campaign in Doro since last year when Hepatitis E broke out in other nearby camps in Maban County inhabited by refugees from Blue Nile State.
The affected camps are Jammam, Jandrassa, Yusif Batil and Doro. The outbreak spread to the latter camp, the largest one, as a result of contact of the residents with affected people from the other camps.