Blog #8 The syndrome stealing Uganda and South Sudan's children

There is a mysterious disease that has recently begun to plague the regions of Uganda and South Sudan. This unknown disease that is known to exclusively target children is referred to as the Nodding Syndrome. The cause of the illness is still unknown which is why along with several other neurological disorders remains a complete mystery. Though the first reports of the disease were documented in 2003 there has not been very much progress since then in attempts to actually treat it.  The outside world has been slow to actually take action in investigating the illness partly due to the particular region that is being affected.  What the syndrome actually does is cause the person to spasm uncontrollably and eventually just die after wasting away. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has confirmed a total of 194 cases but it is believed that more than thousands have been affected and the number is steadily increasing. Some brain scans have been done to attempt to receive more information on the Nodding Syndrome and findings suggest that the disease causes measurable brain atrophy. Fortunately, Nodding Syndrome does not have any indication of being spread from person to person. Surprisingly adequate funding has been provided to fund more investigations on the illness. Simply knowing those pieces of information confirms hope that more action is being taken to learn about the disease. The more knowledge acquired, the better the chances are of decreasing the number of cases and eradicating the disease as a whole in the long run. I feel that if more publications are made concerning Nodding Syndrome that awareness would be raised around the world. When people are more knowledgeable about what exactly is going on and who is being affected they will be more susceptible to lend a helping hand to those in need.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17319434