Bilharzia/Schistosomiasis
Read the following prepared by Dr. Dick Stockley of the Surgery in Kampala – provided to us kindly by the Victoria Nyanza Sailing Club
Bilharzia is not a serious problem if treated sensibly. Water sports are good healthy exercise. Dr Stockley’s advice is to go in the lake if you want, be ready for the first symptoms 6 to 8 weeks later, and take treatment. Children should be allowed to play in the lake, and should be given treatment 8 weeks after exposure and again every 6 months. Those leaving the country should take 2 doses. One 6 weeks after being in the lake and another dose 3 months after being in the lake. Read the full article
For the more interested reader: these are two papers published in Parasites & Vectors about the endemicity and transmission of Schistosomaiasis on the Ssese Islands.
Standley et al.: Epidemiology and control of intestinal schistosomiasis on the Sesse Islands, Uganda: integrating malacology and parasitology to tailor local treatment recommendations. Parasites & Vectors 2010 3:64. Click here
Standley et al.: Confirmed local endemicity and putative high transmission of Schistosoma mansoni in the Sesse Islands, Lake Victoria, Uganda. Parasites & Vectors 2011 4:29. Click here
Banda Island 