Nodding disease children improve

By Violet Nabatanzi

Children suffering from nodding disease are steadily improving. The 25 children who were recently transferred from Kitgum district are currently admitted at Mulago national referral hospital.

The in-charge of pediatrics and child health at Mulago, Prof. James Tumwine in a phone interview said the children will “go back home” after their condition has stabilized and investigations into the disease are completed.

But Tumwine admits that the affected children still do experience the nodding problem and sometimes seizures although it has reduced.

“As we continue to investigate the problem, the children have been put on a new medication known as Sodium Valproate. When the children were in Kitgum they were put on carbamazepine (CBZ) drug, but we had to change to new drug because it has been used by other people elsewhere,” said the pediatrician.

Sodium Valproate (SV) is commonly prescribed as a preventive treatment to individuals diagnosed with epilepsy.

However, it is also prescribed to individuals deemed to be manic and as a preventative agent in individuals diagnosed with Bipolar disorder.

The patients have also been put on a nutritional diet as part of the overall treatment strategy at the hospital.

Nodding disease is believed to be a new type of disorder characterized by head-nodding episodes that consist of repetitive dropping forward of the head.

So far over 3000 children, mainly boys between the ages of five and 15 have been affected with 170 reported dead. The germ which causes river blindness also causes epilepsy in children. 

The affected region lies within an area where river blindness is prevalent, according to World health Organization (WHO).