JAMII MEDICAL CAMPS-KENYA: KICK OUT JIGGERS CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

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The tragedy of people infested with 'jigger' fleas: Parasites burrow so deep that victims must have them cut out of their skin with a SCALPEL:

• >>Man's feet are infested with 'jigger' fleas, common in Sub-Saharan climates 
• >>They have caused his foot to become grossly swollen and disfigured
• >>His skin is flaky, pitted and covered with nodules from burrowing fleas 
• >>Jiggers burrow into human flesh, lay pea-size eggs and multiply
• >>They cause swelling, itching, ulceration and infection
• >>Victims can suffer blood poisoning, gangrene, tetanus and other diseases
• >>Sometimes this can lead to amputation or even death in the worst cases
• >>Have to be cut out of victims foot using a sharp knife, scalpel or pin
• >>Victims who share pins or scalpels can pass on HIV/Aids infections

RE: KICK OUT JIGGERS CAMPAIGN

AID KENYA FOUNDATION, a humanitarian aid and development assistance charitable foundation in Kenya has partnered with Kisii Teaching & Referral Hospital’s Public Health Department as well as the Kenya Humanitarian Aid & Development Assistance Organization (KenAid); and the Kisii Community Development Association (KCDA), a community based organization in Kisii County, to wage a sustained campaign to Kick Out Jiggers and improve water and sanitation.

The Jiggers menace has adversely affected children, women, the youth and the elderly population living in Sensi Ward, Kitutu Chache North as well as pockets of other areas across Kisii County. There is acute water shortage within Kisii Town and the surrounding villages due to long absence of rainfall as well as rampant cutting of trees and the gun tree planting for building and industrial use in tea factories across both Kisii and Nyamira Counties whose total population is 3.5 million people.

Due to absolute poverty, poor sanitation, lack of toilets and poor housing, jiggers have been able to become a scourge and menace of high proportion making an entire village in Sensi Ward to be a jigger-invested region.

Under the Kick Out Jiggers Campaign  and the Kisii Water & Sanitation Project (KWSP)/Kisii Maji Ni Maisha Project, the Aid Kenya Foundation and its development will coordinate both projects to arrest the problem and help safe humanity.

According to the Public Health Department and the Kisii Community Development Association (KCDA), there are over 300 households directly affected with Jiggers in Sensi Ward alone. Therefore, to wage and sustain the campaign effectively, we require the following:

1.    Potassium Permanganate;

2.    Hydrogen Peroxide;

3.     Antiseptic Solution(Doctor);

4.    Cetridine Disinfectant;

5.    Cotton Wool;

6.    Bar Soap ( Chemical Free);

7.    Bandage;

8.    Gloves;

9.    Icon(WD);

10.  Dudu Dust;

11.  Vaseline Petroleum Jelly;

12.   Basins;

13.   Water Buckets;

14.   Shoes;

15.  Water;

16. Food;

17. Transport & Logistics;

18. Spraying Pumps; and

19. Accommodation for our volunteers. 

We therefore request for aid from you to meet our objectives and safe humanity. Its costs $ 625 to treat 20 persons in 5 weeks. We have over 3000 people directly affected most of them school-going children, infants, women and the elderly.

You partnership will be highly appreciated.

Best regards,

Armstrong Ongera Jr.,

 Executive Director,

 Aid Kenya Foundation/Kenya Humanitarian Aid & Development Assistance Organization (KenAid),

P. O. Box 1328-40200,

Kisii, Kenya

WHAT ARE JIGGER FLEAS? 

Adopted from MADLEN DAVIES FOR MAILONLINE

The man's foot is massively swollen and disfigured, having been plagued with jiggers for years, leaving him unable to walk. 

The skin on his foot is flaky and pitted from previous infestations. 

A man infested with 'jigger' fleas is forced to have them cut out of his foot with a scalpel

Jigger, or chigoe fleas, common in Sub-Saharan Africa, burrow into human flesh and lay pea-sized egg sacs. The resulting wounds can lead to infections like gangrene and hepatitis

Jigger fleas cause swelling, ulceration, itching and infections and the pain leaves many people with walking problems. The only way to remove the jiggers is to cut them out of the feet - usually with no anaesthetic

Jiggers, or chigoe fleas, are sand fleas found in Sub-Saharan climates that burrow into the skin and lay eggs.

They cause swelling, itching and infection which can lead to amputation and even death in the worst cases.

A healthcare worker cuts away nodules where the jiggers have buried into the man’s foot, wiping away the flea and the surrounding pus and blood with cotton wool.

Cutting the fleas out of the foot and soaking it in alcohol or another disinfectant is the only way to treat the disease once an infestation has occurred.

Cutting out the jiggers is a painful process, and often all the jiggers cannot be removed in one sitting. In Kenya, an estimated 1.4 million people (translating to four per cent of the total population) suffer from jigger infestation.

Jiggers are small chigoe fleas that live in the dust, and are found on the dirt floors in schools and the homes of many families in Uganda and other similar climates.

These parasitic insects cling to livestock and transfer jiggers into homes primarily in rural areas. 

The female jiggers burrow into the surface of skin that has been exposed to the flea. 

Once embedded in the body, the jigger lays eggs and creates up to pea-size egg sacks and continues to multiply by laying more eggs.

These wounds are painful, and cause difficulties for victims in daily activities such as walking, playing, and attending school. 

The infection can lead to severe inflammation, ulceration and fibrosis. 

It can also cause lymphangitis, gangrene, sepsis, and the loss of toenails, amputation of the digits, and death may also occur.

There is also a social stigma and shame associated with the victims of jiggers which causes them to hide the problem which makes it worse.

While jiggers in small numbers are not deadly, the secondary infections (gangrene, tetanus and other diseases) caused by jiggers can be fatal.

 Source: Sole Hope

They leave most victims unable to walk work, or carry out any activities such as going to school.

Areas of Uganda, Tanzania and other African countries with similar climates also have large areas of infestation.

The female jiggers burrow into the skin, usually of the hands and feel, and lay egg sacks which can grow up to the size of a pea.

The flea continue to multiply by laying more eggs, causing an infection which leads the body to become ulcerated and inflamed.

It can also cause lymphangitis- a swelling of the lymph nodes, as well as gangrene, tetanus and blood poisoning.

Victims often lose their toenails and are forced to have their digits amputated.

While in small numbers jiggers are not deadly, the secondary infections such as gangrene and tetanus can be fatal.

There is also a social stigma and shame associated with the victims of joggers which causes them to hide the problem, making it worse.

Patients often use the same scalpel or pin to cut out the jiggers, therefore infections such as HIV/Aids are passed from person to person.

Jiggers also burrow into the skin of animals like dogs, cats, rats, pigs, cattle and sheep, so people living in rural areas are likely to catch them.

But they are also found in the dust and on dirt floors of many homes and schools.

For a complete eradication of the bug, thorough fumigation of homes, schools and animals need to take place.

Charities in infected regions also encourage the local populations to wear shoes and observe cleanliness to prevent future infestations.

Here, a nodule has been cut away on the man's foot to reveal the jigger underneath (green, centre of foot)

The health worker removes the jigger with a scalpel, leaving a pitted wound 

The jigger is wiped in cotton wool and the scalpel cleaned before another flea is  cut out 

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