Bajura, May 14

A patient suffering from kalaazar — a chronic and potentially fatal parasitic disease — was found in Bajura.

Dr Raju Raj Jaisi, chief of Kolti Primary Health Centre, said a patient with kalaazar was found at a local level in the northern part of Bajura. Dr Jaisi said the disease was found in a seventeen-month-old Debendra Budha of Jagannath Rural Municipality. He said the relatives of the minor had depended on a shaman for treatment.

“The minor was taken to the health facility after the shaman could not cure the child,’’ he added.

Dr Jaisi said the child was referred to health facilities in Dhangadi, Nepalgunj or Surkhet as there was no treatment facility in Bajura.

Health workers said the rural municipality did not provide a pass to the relatives even though the case was serious. They said the province had to take the case seriously as the disease was communicable and it might be fatal in the locality.

Even though the disease used to be prevalent in the Tarai region only, it was also seen in the hilly areas of late. The disease is communicable as it is spread through the bite of the sand fly.

Health workers said patients showed symptoms such as fever, weight loss and it affected the liver among other organs.

Last year, a minor from the district had died due to kalaazar.

Bhagya Shahi, 13, of Swamikartik Rural Municipality succumbed to the disease while being treated in Kanti Children Hospital, Kathmandu.

Two more patients were found in the district last year.

Chief of Health Office, Bajura, Daya Krishna Panta, said that Budhinanda Municipality, Swamikartik, Himali and Jagannath rural municipalities were at high risk of kalaazar.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 15, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.