Pawpaws now being used to treat Bilharzia..... Prospects for pawpaw Kenyan farmers?

Pawpaw and bilharzia treatment by Mwangi Mumero

Kenyans may soon be able to cure bilharzia using simple remedies like pawpaw juice and solanum roots, when research, currently in the final stages, at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology gets the final nod from human medical authorities.

According to Professor Susy Muchika and colleagues at the university, their work with mice has shown that pawpaws provide high levels of immunity and offer high levels of protection against bilharzias to those animals using it. A similar result has been noticed with solanum roots.

Solanum incanum, also known as Sodom apple, is a common weed prevalent in many parts of Kenya and the East African region.

Working at the Department of Zoology, the group of researchers add that the destruction of worms due to chemicals in papaya and solanum roots would provide a cheaper alternative to expensive drugs currently in use.

Bilharzia -also known as schistosomiasis- is a health problem that affects close to 6 million people in the country with the majority in Coast Province and areas near irrigation projects.

Farmers in irrigation schemes like Mwea and Ahero are particularly prone to the scourge due to the presence of a water snail that form part of the transmission stages of the parasitic worm. The parasitic worm passed through a water snail which thrives in wet conditions provided by irrigation canals.

Women washing clothes in infested water are at risk. Hygiene and playing in mud and water make children vulnerable to infection. Forty million women of childbearing age are infected.

Approximately 10 million women in Africa have schistosomiasis during pregnancy In endemic areas, the infection is usually acquired as a child.

Signs of the disease include too much coughing, a lot of abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue and weight loss. In extreme cases, blood in urine is visible and ported a slow and painful death.

Loss in productivity as workers fail to tend their fields, increased loss of income through expensive drugs and dietary requirement for recovering patients are also huge public health obligations.

The disease further worsens the disease burden for persons living in irrigated areas who have fight against malaria infections and intestinal worms.

The intensity and prevalence of infection then rises with age and peaks usually between 15 to 20 years. In areas where the disease is common, tourism is also affected as visitor avoid bathing or swimming in waters infected by the disease transmitting snail.

The university’s stand at the recently concluded Nairobi International Trade Fair was inundated with students, journalists and the general public eager to obtain further information on the research work.

“The use of papaya and solanum- cheaply available on the country in the management of bilharzia has proved effective in mice. We believe that it can work in humans once the final tests and approvals are sought from the relevant bodies”, noted one of the technicians at the stand who did not want his name used in the press story.

On display were assorted product from papaya and solanum –from fruits and roots- which researches believe form the basis of a future affordable bilharzias treatment.

However, unlike herbalists who advice patients to boil or crush roots , barks and other plant parts, the researchers at the university said they will have to seek advice of drug development once their research work has been approved and ready to be rolled out as human medicine.

In a related development, another group of researchers at the university have identified viable ways of managing snake bites.

Venom from highly poisonous Black Mamba snakes can be used to treat bites that are mainly fatal. Snakes are a real threat to million of Kenyans that live in arid and semi-arid part of the country as well as livestock that graze in grasslands.

“Continuous exposure of small diluted venom to mice has proved effective in taming poisonous snakes. Mice under laboratory tests have been able to develop anti-venom abilities with exposure to small controlled doses of the venom. We believe that with further research, it is possible to get proper anti-venom vaccine for use by humans”, noted the technicians at the stand.

The research carried out By Professor Rosebella Maranga and colleagues has shown ‘ a lot of potential for mass production ‘, according to the technicians who had to answer a multitude of question of question from the eager members of public. (ends)