Ssemwanga battles strange disease, seeks help

Nansubuga showing the boy's blisters. Photo by Davis Buyondo

RAKAI     DISEASE    KAMUSWAGA

Three-year-old Elvis Ssemwanga of Nnongo village in Kansankala parish, Kagamba sub-county, in Rakai district, is living in pain.

He has itchy blisters all over the body being caused by a rare skin disorder. And the little one can hardly sleep without pills.

The itchy blisters simply swell and develop on the skin. It fills with pus and when it ruptures, it eventually turns into a wound.

According to his grandmother Agatha Nansubuga, he has been suffering from the ailment for seven months.

The condition started in September 2018 as a normal fungal disease on the boy's scalp and later developed into wounds.

She then took Ssemwanga to a clinic which concluded it was a fungal infection. They prescribed for him a fungal ointment to be applied on the affected parts. But the situation did not improve at all.

Two weeks later, the situation worsened as the blisters spread to other parts of the body, including the chest, back, stomach, buttocks, and testicles.

Worried, Nansubuga took him to a skin doctor in Kyotera town who said it was syphilis or scabies.

But since they could not handle Ssemwanga's condition, health workers referred him to Masaka Regional Referral Hospital where they spent two months.

"When the boy improved, doctors discharged us. But to my surprise, the blisters developed once again. I was scared and did not have money to take him to another specialist," she recounted.

She noted that he has had normal health until seven months ago when he developed the disorder.

Nansubuga resorted to pricking the blisters using a thorn to remove pus, but they often develop into painful wounds (lesions).

"We have to hold him to prick the boils. This is quite a challenging task because it looks more of torture," she added. In their efforts to save him, more fresh swellings would still develop around the healing lesions.

She said that they have so far spent over sh1,000,000 on his treatment hoping he will be recover but all in vain. New vision has learnt from Nansubuga that there is no family history of the similar disorder.

Kamuswaga Intervenes
Early this month, the family sought assistance from Apollo Ssansa Kabumbuli II, the Kamuswaga of Kooki Traditional Institution.

Concerned, the Kamuswaga supported the family to take the boy to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital where they spent two weeks and discharged after great improvement.

According to the medical forms, doctors in Mbarara related the disease with chronic bullous dermatosis of childhood (CBDC).

A health worker in Rakai defined CBDC as a rare chronic blistering disease in children. She said that although it is mostly in children, it can affect adults as well.

They were discharged after a three-week treatment was prescribed for him.

However, the boy's relief was shot lived because the blisters recurred severely. The condition has remained the same amid the prescribed treatment.

Now residents of Nnongo believe it is a spiritual ailment that needs a supernatural solution. "They first told me to visit a witchdoctor for redress, but I knew quite well that the disease was not related to witchcraft," she recounted.

Dr. Emmanuel Ssentongo Lugwana, the Director-Bethlehem Health Community Hospital in Nabigasa sub-county, Kyotera district disputed claims of witchcraft.

He explained that the boy needs fresh thorough examination which will determine the actual cause. "This will give us the right clue for remedy" he said.

IJAR Research
According to the abstract of the International Journal of Advanced Research (IJAR) report which was published in May 2018, CBDC is an acquired, autoimmune, vesiculobullous disease. It affects both children and adults of all races and sexes especially those in developing countries.

It affects children mainly between 1 and 11 years with a peak between 6 and 8 years. Its onset is acute and usually severe while recurrences become less severe.

Treatment
The report Diaminodiphenylsulfone (Dapsone) is the treatment of choice in addition to systemic corticosteroids.

It further highlights that two-thirds of CBCD are related to drug, particularly certain antibiotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and diuretics.