A pediatric kidney doctor at the Department of Child Health, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital,(KATH) Mr Sampson Antwi says his outfit receives 220 cases of kidney infections every year.
These cases, he said were prevalent in children who were between 4 and 10 years with some reaching their terminal stages at the time of visit.
this huge figure, Mr Antwi emphasized had been recorded at KATH for the past three years.
For the past three years, ten(10) deaths in these children had been recorded as a result of the disease, the expert disclosed.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Observer Newspaper at the University Primary School in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology,(KNUST) where the School of Medical Sciences,(SMS) as part of their 40th anniversary celebration were conducting a free kidney screening for pupils at the school, the kidney doctor called for early urine tests.
LATE REPORTS:
According to him, most cases which were reported at the department had reached their chronic and terminal stages with some requiring kidney transplants.
Others, he stressed had to be put on dialysis because of their late arrival at the hospital due to late detection.
EARLY DETECTION:
Mr Antwi, however stressed if these cases had been reported early when the signs were showing, care and treatment would have been sought to manage the devastating consequences of the disease.
According to him, the symptoms of the kidney disease were the swelling of the hands, face and feet.
But, he noted the early detection and subsequent report of the signs to the hospital would greatly help to reduce the cases to fully blown ones.
DEAN:
Addressing reporters earlier at the screening event, Professor Yaw Adu Sarkodie, Dean of the School of Medical Sciences noted the importance of early urine testing.
He, therefore, stressed the SMS decided to screen pupils at University Primary for the disease so as to ensure they prescribe early treatment if some are found and also to inculcate into the kids the need to test for their health when they are grown.
This, he noted also formed part of the school’s contribution to better the lives of their immediate community and residents.
SCHOOL HEAD:
Mr Napoleon de-Graft Etsison, Head-University Basic School expressed delight at the opportunity given his pupils to test for their urine status.
According to him, the exercise would help parents who were informed about the screening, the opportunity to know the strength of their kids kidneys and seek early treatment for them when the signs were showing.
