KAMPALA: The police medical emergency team at Namugongo Catholic Martyrs’ shrine has referred 15 pilgrims to Mulago national referral hospital with severe malaria, diarrhea, and hypertension.
The doctor, Edward Piyota, who is attached to the police medical emergency team, says the pilgrims with malaria were convulsing because of delayed treatment.
According to Piyota, the medical tests conducted on the pilgrims show that they contracted malaria during their long trek to Namungongo and didn’t bother to get treatment, which weakened their bodies. “By the time they were brought to us, they were very sick and convulsing,” he said.
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Dr. Piyota said that this made them send the pilgrims to Mulago National Referral Hospital so that they could get better care.
He says that the pilgrims who presented with severe diarrhea, diabetes, and hypertension were also badly off because of delayed treatment. He said that some of them became too weak because of the long journey and insufficient meals.
The Red Cross emergency team also referred three pilgrims to the hospital for better management. The manager of the central division of the Red Cross in Kampala, Osbert Sserugo, said that they had been told that the pilgrims were getting better.
Over 20 other pilgrims, including children, were rushed to the Red Cross emergency team unconscious after collapsing. Some of the pilgrims collapsed in queues as they were waiting for clearance to access the shrines. Many fainted because of too much heat due to the high number of pilgrims.
