HI, I believe my tour with you has the option to do white water rafting at Jinja in Uganda but I've heard there's a strong possibility of contracting Schistosomiasis there....is this true? Have you had many travellers suffering from this?
Please advise...
Thanks,
Rafting and Schistosomiasis
HI
Thanks for your post. We have never heard of a case of this. I think its more likely when the water is still that there is a chance of catching it, as it is carried by freshwater snails.
Regards
Sue
Schotoniasis AKA Bilhartzia
Atleast one of the people I ravelled with recently in east Africa has been diagnosed with Bilharzia which can only be attributed to exposure in the Nile at Jinja during white water rafting in August 2010
Not good!
Oh dear, yes I read that it's becoming more common although people keep disputing that you can get it in fast moving water. Was it easy to treat or have they had horrible symptons? From what I can gather it would seem it's not treatable until up to 6 weeks after by which time it causes nasty symptons and can cause internal and skin damage?
It's rather irresponsible letting travellers raft there when there is a high risk!
Thanks
Bilharzia exposure Jinja
Apparently the treatment is a single dose of an anti paracitic, though that is only any good if you know you have it. Apparently many people go without symptoms for long periods even years. The symptoms arise from an alergic reaction to the worm eggs, the worms apparently do not cause outwardly noticible symptoms. Thats what I got from The U.S CDC and the UK NHS on the subject. Though no one other than our one Australian has shown symptoms or had a diognosis so far, she may just have been the unlucky one.