Concern raised over skin disease affecting children

WITH the academic year set to start in a few weeks, a parent in Western Highlands has raised concern about a skin disease affecting children since last year.
John Kupai said his three children, all under the age of 10, had been plagued by the condition for three months.
He said his children had caught the disease from school.
Kupai said the disease, which looks like scabies, starts off as an itch and once scratched forms sores on skin.
He claimed the disease was hard to get rid of as he had tried medicines and herbal remedies.
Kupai posted this concern on Facebook to seek the attention of the Health Department but, instead, it attracted attention of parents around the country who claimed they were facing the same dilemma with their children.
Health secretary Dr Osborne Liko said the department had not received reports from provincial health authorities (PHAs) about the disease.
“Healthcare, including health outbreaks, come under the jurisdiction of all PHAs,” he said. “The particular concern (you) alluded to has not been reported to the department yet.”
Health staff from at least two general hospitals in the Highlands contacted by The National confirmed treating similar cases.
Dr Peter Inina, from Goroka General Hospital, said they currently did not know the cause nor the treatment but were treating it as scabies and abscess.
Dr Paulus Ripa, children’s doctor at Mt Hagen General Hospital said because not much attention was given to the disease, there were no statistics or definite data to prove an outbreak.
“We focus on life-threatening conditions so I guess this has been overlooked,” he said.