Kachin children sick with flu in Chinese refugee camp

KACHIN WAR IDPS WHO ARE ILLEGALLY SHELTERING IN LAH YING IN CHINA, OPPOSITE LOIJE IN BURMA'S NORTHERN KACHIN STATE.

Ten-children in Nakawng Kawng refugee camp in China have a flu believed to have originated from mosquito bites.

A school teacher at the camp said the children are getting sick after being bit by mosquitoes.

“Even some of the elders got sick with the flu. But it’s the young children who are mostly coming down with the flu after being bit by mosquitoes. After being bitten by infected mosquitoes red spots appear on the hands and legs. This will follow with coughing and a runny nose. The flu is contagious and easily passed to their family members. Therefore we have requested for any children who are sick not to attend classes,” said the school teacher.

The camp committee is trying to contain the flu in Nakawng Kawng by instructing the community to adhere to proper hygiene. They have instructed camp residents to use handkerchiefs when coughing, all drinking water should be boiled and anyone who becomes infected from mosquito bites to get proper medical treatment.

According to camp medic Hkawng Zawng children have been getting sick with the flu since early July.

Recently ten Kachin volunteers and several doctors led by Awng Mai, a physician from the Mandalay Hospital, came to assess the medical needs around the camps in the Nongdao (or Nawng Tau) area.

Camp committee member Nang Bawk said the doctors visited the camps as a result of the flu outbreak and increase in other illnesses due to the rainy season.

“They were 10 people in total, including two medical doctors and one dentist.  They stayed in the camp for three-days to provide medical treatment. Some churches in Mandalay supported their trip,” said Nang Bawk.

Since the Burmese government broke a seventeen-year ceasefire with the Kachin Independence Organization over a year ago over 75,000 civilians have been displaced by the ongoing conflict. There are more than 10,000 IDPs living in camps in China.