Prevention is better than cure!

─ filaria patient shares her cautionary tale

─ encourages all to take advantage of upcoming MDA

DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Trudy Drepaul is a patient at the filaria clinic after an unexpected diagnosis of the infection. She chose to go public with her story to highlight and encourage others to capitalise on all measure offered by the Ministry of Public Health to prevent filaria.

The mother and wife is adamant that the medication being offered – in the Public Health Ministry’s Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign – “must” be taken.

Drepaul acknowledged that she now recognises that contracting filaria poses a significant difference in one’s life. “I am telling you it’s not easy and I wouldn’t like anybody to get this thing. It’s very painful, and I have to sit with my feet up. If I am up and about doing my work during the day the foot will be extremely swollen.”

Her case began in 2015 following a dog bite. “My dog bit me; I had 14 dog bites, and all got better except two. I kept visiting the doctor over and over, and they couldn’t really tell me what was happening with these two bites that were not healing.”

Despite having a tetanus injection administered and being tested for diabetes after several follow up visits to her doctor; Drepaul was still experiencing pain and the bites were not healing.

After all those options were exhausted, the doctor finally recommended that she get tested for filaria. “He (the doctor) wrote up a document and I went three nights to take the test and it was there that I got the result – it was filaria. You can just imagine how I felt, I couldn’t believe it!”

Trudy said she could have been considered as someone least likely to contract a vector-related illness since she always utilised precautionary methods such as using mosquito nets, insecticides, repellants and mosquito coils.

After her diagnosis, she joined the filaria clinic. During her first interaction with the doctor at the facility, Drepaul expressed her shock. “I told the doctor ‘I don’t know how I will live with this’. The doctor had to counsel me; she took a few minutes to just speak to me because I was actually in deep despair,” she tearfully recalled.

She was given the assurance that having filaria does not mean it is the end of the road since the condition can be controlled. Her case did not exhibit much swelling, which is not normally the case. “[The doctor] said as long as I take the medication and follow the guidelines, it can be controlled. But I told her, I blame myself because when tablets were being shared, I gave every member of my family but I did not take any; my husband and my children, I gave them but I didn’t take it so this is the result of that action.”

Drepaul took the opportunity to highlight her story at a recent media sensitisation hosted by the Ministry of Public Health along with PAHO/WHO. The media operatives were engaged to apprise them of aspects on the revised Mass Drug Administration campaign, which is tentatively set to begin at the end of October.

While Drepaul was brave enough to come forward, many others are reluctant to come forward to share their story because of the stigma attached to the condition. Hence, an appeal was made to the media to assist in the sensitisation of the general public, on the necessary treatment and preventative measures to address this condition.

Once the campaign begins, pills distributors will be expected to visit offices, schools, homes and will be strategically placed markets, stellings, bus parks and places of worship, to ensure more persons are administered the necessary therapy.