This is so painful to look at and read about, we are seeing a rise in pestilence. This one effects children and women the most and is very visual. Heart breaking pictures if you click through the two articles below. God warned us this would increase as we entered the end times…
Luke 21:10-11 (NIV) – “10Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.”
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Afghanistan hit by disfiguring tropical disease
The Afghan capital, Kabul, has been hit by a disfiguring tropical skin disease, the World Health Organization says.
The WHO warned that the disease, cutaneous leishmaniasis, threatens the health of 13 million Afghans, especially women and girls.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease transmitted through the bites of certain species of sand-fly.
It can lead to severe scarring, often on the face, and regularly goes undiagnosed and untreated.
”The number of new reported cases in Kabul dramatically rose from the estimated yearly figure of 17,000 to 65,000 in 2009, mainly among women and children,” said WHO representative to Afghanistan Peter Graaff.
”This number is likely to be the tip of the iceberg as cases are grossly underreported.”
Several other major cities such as Herat, Kandahar and Mazar-e Sharif are also centres of leishmaniasis.
Social stigma
Leishmaniasis has exploded in crowded neighbourhoods of Afghanistan and spread to hundreds of thousands of people.
”I had the disease – and didn’t go to a doctor – but it healed itself after a year,” said Abdul Ghaffar, 12, in Kabul.
”I am fine now, but I am worried about the scar.”
The Afghan government says the high cost of treatment makes it difficult to hand out drugs for the illness.
The most common form of the disease is not fatal, but still causes misery and social stigma, especially for victims with scarring on their faces and hands.
Those affected develop skin sores which can occur several weeks to many months after the person has been bitten.
Many victims suffer without receiving treatment or a diagnosis
Children are often bullied and women sufferers sometimes find it hard to find husbands.
”Addressing stigma, early diagnosis and early treatment is the only way to go about tackling this disease,” said Fatima Gilani, director of the Afghan Red Crescent Society.
The disease thrives in post-conflict societies where there is poor sanitation and poor community services. The insects often breed on waste land and in rubbish.
Doctors say that refugees returning from abroad are particularly susceptible as they have no resistance.
Decades of conflict has gravely weakened much of Afghanistan’s health infrastructure.
”Our capacity to treat the disease is very low. We can treat only 40% of leishmaniasis cases,” said Dr Suraya Dalil, acting public health minister.
Over the past few years a handful of foreign troops have also been bitten by the sand-flies and have developed the disease.
Nato camps have been fortified to try to stop the sand-flies and soldiers have been instructed to keep sleeves rolled down and to use mosquito nets and insect repellents.
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Disfiguring tropical disease surges in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan – An outbreak of a tropical disease caused by sand fly bites that leaves disfiguring skin sores has hit Afghanistan, with tens of thousands of people infected, health officials said Friday.
Cutaneous leishmanisis is a parasitic disease transmitted by the female phlebotomine sand fly — an insect only 2-3 millimeters long that requires the blood of humans or animals so its eggs can develop. Treatable with medication and not life-threatening, cutaneous leishmanisis can leave severe scars on the bodies of victims.
The disease threatens 13 million people in Afghanistan, the World Health Organization said, and many impoverished Afghan victims can’t afford the medication to treat it.
In Kabul — described by the WHO as “the world capital of cutaneous leishmaniasis” — the number of cases jumped from an estimated 17,000 a year in the early 2000s to 65,000 in 2009, WHO said.
Most victims are women and children. WHO said women and children are more vulnerable because they mostly live indoors at night, where the sand flies prefer to bite, and are therefore more susceptible than men who are generally outside the home.
Peter Graaff, WHO representative to Afghanistan, told The Associated Press on Friday that the stigma and shame attached to the disfiguring disease results in underreporting, and the number of infected people is likely much higher.
“This number is likely to be the tip of the iceberg as cases are grossly underreported,” said Graaff.
An outbreak has occurred in a small village in western Herat province’s Kohsan district with 63 people infected since August, Graaff said.
The cause of the outbreak was unknown and a WHO team has been dispatched to investigate, he said.
The sand flies proliferate from June to September. They thrive in unsanitary conditions such as piles of garbage and debris, though bed nets offer protection from their bites. As the disfiguring sores grow larger, many suffer social stigmatization.
“The high cost of treatment makes it difficult to integrate anti-Leishmaniasis drugs,” said Dr. Suraya Dalil, acting minister of public health. “I urge donors to take this cause seriously, as it causes unnecessary suffering amongst a large number of Afghans.”
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