Swine Flu is spreading like pork buns in a dim sum restaurant!
As far as I know there have not been any reported cases in Tanzania (yet?). People ARE worried about a possible pandemic. The CEO of VSO sent out a mass email the other day warning people about this possible pandemic. And doctors in the hospital here in Lindi are talking about swine. We are scheduled to listen to a presentation on Swine Flu on Wednesday.
Other hogwash worth mentioning - a bunch of bombs went off in Dar Es Salaam last week, killing about sixty people (I believe that is the number quoted). I don't know how or why the bombs went off but it caused alot of panic among people living in Dar. As far as I know there are no bombs here in Lindi, or so I'm told!
On a very sad note, on Thursday evening, as I was about to go to sleep, I received very disturbing news. One of the VSO volunteers had been involved in a traffic accident and died while riding her bike in Tanzania's capital city of Dodoma. I was shocked and very saddened by the news. I had spent alot of time with this person as we studied Intermediate Kiswahili together last year in Morogoro! Apparently I was told that the tire of a taxi blew out causing one of the buses in the street to swerve and knock her off her bike! I don't have all of the details about this case and I'm told that VSO is still collecting information.
Switching gears, I met my first 'Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome' patient on Thursday. AIS is basically a rare condition affecting about 1/1200 women in which the uterus and cervix does not develop. These people are 'phenotypically' women but have 46 xy chromosomes (genotypically male). The diagnosis has to be confirmed by karyotyping but I'm fairly sure of the diagnosis based on her presentation. She came in complaining of primary amenorrhea (never having a period) at age 21. I had to ask one of the Tanzanian doctors to help me translate counseling this patient as it would be a very time consuming, delicate subject to discuss and necessitate answering many questions! We ended up referring the patient to Dar Es Salaam for karyotyping and genetic counseling. She may need orchiectomy if she is confirmed to have AIS.
Friday was a holiday here in Tanzania. I spent the morning doing a bit of reading on the beach. In the afternoon I went to the 'football' stadium to watch two of the local soccer teams play. It was a blow out, 3-0. The local team lost. There were a few visitors who received nasty looks when they cheared for goals by the visiting team. I captured most of the game on video.
That's all the news I have for you for now. Enjoy the weekend!
As far as I know there have not been any reported cases in Tanzania (yet?). People ARE worried about a possible pandemic. The CEO of VSO sent out a mass email the other day warning people about this possible pandemic. And doctors in the hospital here in Lindi are talking about swine. We are scheduled to listen to a presentation on Swine Flu on Wednesday.
Other hogwash worth mentioning - a bunch of bombs went off in Dar Es Salaam last week, killing about sixty people (I believe that is the number quoted). I don't know how or why the bombs went off but it caused alot of panic among people living in Dar. As far as I know there are no bombs here in Lindi, or so I'm told!
On a very sad note, on Thursday evening, as I was about to go to sleep, I received very disturbing news. One of the VSO volunteers had been involved in a traffic accident and died while riding her bike in Tanzania's capital city of Dodoma. I was shocked and very saddened by the news. I had spent alot of time with this person as we studied Intermediate Kiswahili together last year in Morogoro! Apparently I was told that the tire of a taxi blew out causing one of the buses in the street to swerve and knock her off her bike! I don't have all of the details about this case and I'm told that VSO is still collecting information.
Switching gears, I met my first 'Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome' patient on Thursday. AIS is basically a rare condition affecting about 1/1200 women in which the uterus and cervix does not develop. These people are 'phenotypically' women but have 46 xy chromosomes (genotypically male). The diagnosis has to be confirmed by karyotyping but I'm fairly sure of the diagnosis based on her presentation. She came in complaining of primary amenorrhea (never having a period) at age 21. I had to ask one of the Tanzanian doctors to help me translate counseling this patient as it would be a very time consuming, delicate subject to discuss and necessitate answering many questions! We ended up referring the patient to Dar Es Salaam for karyotyping and genetic counseling. She may need orchiectomy if she is confirmed to have AIS.
Friday was a holiday here in Tanzania. I spent the morning doing a bit of reading on the beach. In the afternoon I went to the 'football' stadium to watch two of the local soccer teams play. It was a blow out, 3-0. The local team lost. There were a few visitors who received nasty looks when they cheared for goals by the visiting team. I captured most of the game on video.
That's all the news I have for you for now. Enjoy the weekend!
1 comment:
Great posts. Keep up with the updates. Can't wait to have you back in the US!
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