MOMBASA,Kenya, Oct, 5 – Fatma Ismael lost her two sisters early this year due to COVID-19 complications. After their burial, the whole family was sent to isolation centres because they had close contact with the deceased.
Though painful as it was, Fatma said they were advised by their doctor to take precaution for the good of their family.
‘In February I lost my two sisters, one died on Sunday night and the other one on Tuesday evening, we were told they had COVID-19. We immediately went into isolation because we had a close contact with them. It was very painful,”Said Fatma.
In isolation centres, Fatma said the doctor prescribed for them some immune boosting medicine to take. They also decided to use homemade remedies just to be sure that if by any chance they contracted the virus, the remedies will heal them.
Fatma who is a secondary school teacher in Mombasa County was a worried woman. The loss of her two sisters took a toll on her as she wished for a vaccine or medicine which would be found to cure the deadly virus which originated in China at the time.
And when the government started receiving vaccines from the donor countries, she breathed a sigh of relief and without wasting any time she was among the first people to be inoculated. According to her, the vaccine is the best line of defense to protect not only herself but also her 956 students at the school from being infected with the deadly virus.
‘Like I said, I lost my two sisters because of COVID-19 and then at my place of work we have 956 students and more than 100 workers, so I thought its better I get the vaccine and have some immunity even if it’s by 30 percent,”
Fatma’s story is not different from that of Fatuma Ali who works at a restaurant in Lunga Lunga area, which borders Kenya and Tanzania.
She knew that she was exposed to the Coronavirus when members of the family she was working for tested positive for the virus.
Most workers contracted the virus, but little did she know that she would be the next victim.
‘My friends had started showing the COVID-19 symptoms. A few days later, I started experiencing pain all over my body, headache, sore throat, loss of appetite and body weakness set in,” said Fatuma.
Her next course of action was to use a lemon, honey and ginger concoction – all in the belief she was preventing the virus. She used to take the concoction every time she felt like coughing with the belief that her symptoms would simply disappear.
Like many other people, relying on social media and hearsay, Fatuma started using the concoction even before she was tested for the coronavirus.
Sadly, despite taking the concoction, her health deteriorated as she finally decided to visit a hospital, where she tested positive for the virus and was put on the right treatment regimen. Fatuma stayed in quarantine for two weeks and self-isolated for another two weeks, before going back for the test which turned out negative
Fatuma says she is lucky to have tested negative from the coronavirus because the employer whom she was working for succumbed to the virus.
Fatma Ismael and Fatuma Ali are among many Kenyans who take home remedies when they suspect to have the coronavirus. Remedies which have not been prescribed by the doctors.
People like them who are sick with the disease at the mild and moderate stages, are the target of an on-going clinical trial called ANTICOV, the largest clinical trial in Africa to treat COVID-19 cases before they become severe. The clinical trial will be carried out at 19 sites in 13 countries by the ANTICOV consortium, which includes 26 prominent African and global research and development (R&D) organisations, coordinated by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).
Launched in November 2020, ANTICOV is an open-label, randomised, comparative, ‘adaptive platform trial’ that will test the safety and efficacy of treatments in 2,000 to 3,000 mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients.
According to Dr John Nkengasong, the Director of Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, African countries have mounted an impressive response so far to COVID-19 and now is the time to prepare for future waves of the disease.
‘There is a need for large clinical trials in Africa for COVID-19 to answer research questions that are specific to an African context, we welcome the ANTICOV trial led by African doctors because it will help answer one of our most pressing questions: with limited intensive care facilities in Africa, can we treat people for COVID-19 earlier and stop our hospitals from being overwhelmed?” he said.
Countries participating in the ANTICOV clinical trial include Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Republic of Guinea and Burkina Faso.
“We need research here in Africa that will inform policies and test-and-treat strategies, so that as clinicians we can give the best options to people with COVID-19,” said Dr Borna Nyaoke from DNDi. She added that the trial aims at looking at early treatment, which can be used to prevent progression of mild to moderate COVID-19 to severe disease,” he said.
This will include patients who have COVID-19 symptoms, but are still in stable condition, and can be treated from home.
Some treatments, which Dr Nyaoke said they are already investigating in the trial, include the drug combination Nitazoxanide and Ciclesonide, which are also used to treat other diseases. Other treatments will be added in the next few weeks.
According to Dr Nyaoke slightly over one percent of Kenyans have so far received the COVID-19 vaccine, which is not enough to prevent transmission, hence there is need for more research to have more treatments available for the rest of the population who currently do not have access to the vaccines.
Treating these patients with mild disease and preventing them from being hospitalised due to severe disease will help avoid overwhelming healthcare facilities.
The first results of the ANTICOV clinical trial are expected between January and March 2022. The trial has so far enrolled over 150 patients from DR Congo, Republic of Guinea, Ghana, Mali and Kenya.
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