The Cure For This Flesh-Eating Disease Makes Grown Men Run And Hide

This article is part of HuffPost’s Project Zero campaign, a yearlong series on neglected tropical diseases and efforts to fight them. UTUT FOREST, Kenya ― Amos Kiptui is no stranger to hardship. He was born in a cave 27 years ago and still lives in one, despite run-ins with wild buffalo, deadly snakes, leopards and lions.  So when thick, itchy welts began to appear on Kiptui’s right cheek, he took a sharp rock and scraped off layers of his skin, then packed the bleeding wound with traditional medicine made from bitter leaves.  “You put the leaves on a piece of iron and make a fire,” he said, demonstrating with a small, battered metal sheet. “You leave it to dry and crush it to powder,” he added. “Then you rub your wound with a stone until the blood starts oozing out and apply the powder.” In the Utut Forest in Kenya’s Nakuru County, this treatment is believed to help heal a condition that people living here call “shetani,” meaning curse or devil. As the disease gained ground on Kiptui’s face, he kept hacking away clumps of flesh and rubbing in the balm, hoping to exorcise the demon he believed to be behind the itchy sores. Kiptui was actually the victim of a rare flesh-eating disease called cutaneous leishmaniasis, which is spread by blood-sucking sandflies living in rocky areas and caves. Without medical treatment, the injected parasites can keep growing and gnawing their way...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news