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Patient Study
Outbreak of scurvy in Tana River County, Kenya: A case report
African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine | Vol 10, No 1 | a1811 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/phcfm.v10i1.1811
| © 2018 Sue Scheenstra, Sue Scheenstra
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 24 April 2018 | Published: 25 October 2018
Submitted: 24 April 2018 | Published: 25 October 2018
About the author(s)
Peter Halestrap, Family Medicine Department, Africa Inland Church, Kijabe Hospital, KenyaSue Scheenstra, Africa Inland Church Health Ministries, Kijabe Hospital, Kenya
Abstract
Over a five-month period, clinicians in Tana River County Kenya observed an increasing number of patients presenting to health facilities with a common collection of symptoms including fevers, joint pains and gum hypertrophy. After initial investigative and management strategies failed to reveal a diagnosis, patients were empirically commenced on ascorbic acid for presumed scurvy. This strategy resulted in the rapid resolution of symptoms in 65 patients within two weeks.
Keywords
scurvy; nutrition; primary care
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Crossref Citations
1. The Forgotten Disease in the 21st Century: Scurvy Outbreak in Hawassa Central Prison, Hawassa, Sidama, Southern Ethiopia, 2023
Ashagrachew Haile, Simeon Mara, Yegzeru Belete, Tesfa Dejene
International Medical Case Reports Journal vol: Volume 16 first page: 847 year: 2023
doi: 10.2147/IMCRJ.S438833