Tanzania – Hamisi

TB Dar es salaam - Hamisi, 10y

10-year-old Hamisi had a persistent cough that turned out to be tuberculosis

I’m 10 years old, in fifth grade, and my name is Hamisi Kalinga. I live with my grandfather, who is 89, and my older brother and sister at Yombo Vituka in Dar es Salaam. My father died a few years ago, and my mother moved to Mlimba a remote area in Morogoro region, to earn a living by farming.

A few months ago, my brother took me to the clinic because I had flu-like symptoms and was coughing too much. It takes us about 20 minutes to walk to this clinic from home. I coughed so much that when we got to the hospital I threw up and there was blood in it. My doctor asked me to cough up sputum (the fluid from my lungs) to test me for TB. But they found nothing. The next day my brother got a call from the clinic to tell him that they had sent one of my samples to APOPO and tested it using trained rats. APOPO had found tuberculosis (TB). They told him I needed to come in immediately to begin treatment.

I had no idea what tuberculosis was, no idea where and how I got it, so learning that I had it didn’t bother me. Although I was initially afraid to tell my friends because they wouldn’t want to play with me. I also wasn’t ready to stay home from school. I need to work hard to fulfill my dream of becoming an engineer. But I had to follow the instructions I was given to protect my family and friends. And I had to take the medication at the same time every day!

It’s now been three months and my persistent cough and headache are gone. I feel pretty good, and the doctors tell me I am no longer contagious, so life goes on. But I do need to keep taking the medication for another 3 months to be sure that all the bacteria are cleared and don’t come back to bother me later. I am grateful to the doctor who got me tested and to the HeroRATs who found my TB (which APOPO confirmed in their lab). I am also grateful that there is a cure, and I will be free of TB soon.”

At APOPO, with the help of our HeroRATs, we diagnose on average 40% more patients for our partner clinics. Help us change lives.

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