Wismar Hospital sees too many cases of fungal infections —- Bridges Paediatrician

May 23, 2018 News

Dr. Claudette Heyliger-Thomas, a paediatrician from Atlanta, Georgia, and attached to the Bridges Medical Mission which is currently in Guyana, visited both the Linden Hospital Complex and the Upper Demerara Hospital last Thursday.
Dr. Heyliger-Thomas said that it was her fourth visit to the Upper Demerara Hospital. She said that most of the cases seen were of children who were infected with fungal infections.
“Children tend to have a lot of fungal infections of the skin and scalp. Colds are the usual, but for today that’s predominant. We’ve seen a lot of fungal infections of the scalp and of the skin…Children play in dirt so that’s the result.
Thompson said that these conditions are infectious and so parents should teach their children not to share combs brushes and other items.
She said that fungus is a very slow growing organism so it takes a long time to get rid of.
“Even though I’m just here for a short time, I would like to make a difference, because that is our motto; building bridges, making a difference.
One of the unique cases seen was a child with a short frendula, which is a tissue that attaches the tongue to the base of the mouth to keep it in place,” Dr. Heyliger-Thomas said.
The team also facilitated the Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme for health professionals desirous of obtaining credits over the weekend at the Marriott Hotel.
Dr. Donald C. Wallerson, a cardiologist and US-based Guyanese, attached to the Bridges team, said the mission had seen almost two dozen patients at the Mackenzie Hospital.
He acknowledged that patients are appreciative of the fact that the services offered come at a significant “cost benefit” to them.
Dr. Wallerson said that he had the “unfortunate circumstances” of seeing a patient who had paid $15,000 to have an echocardiogram done a week ago. An ecocardiogram is an ultra sound diagnostic evaluation of the heart, Dr. Wallerson explained.
The procedure was recommended by his doctors and the patient was scheduled to have it done at the GPHC.
He could have had the procedure done for free, Dr. Wallerson said.
Project Dawn
The Base for the Bridges Medical Mission known as Project Dawn, is at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, according to Dr. Wallerson.
He added that for each one-week Mission to Guyana, the team attends to between130 and 150 patients. He said that the availability of early screening here is not as readily available, as it can be. Sometimes cases are seen, that in the United States, would have been dealt with five to ten years before.
The doctor said that because these cases are not “picked up” earlier, we get them at a more advanced stage.”
He added that the benefit of the team coming to Guyana over the past ten years or so is that they would have seen patients that were fortunate to have early screenings done, and so “caught entities early enough in the disease evolution and so were able to make significant impacts.”
Superintendent of the Wismar Hospital, Dr. Steve Marks, expressed gratitude for the medical intervention by the Bridges Team, which has been collaborating with the local health sector since 2009.
“The team has greatly impacted our services, not only in the area of paediatrics, but in other areas including cardiology and spirometry and many other services over the years.
This is a mission that we look forward to and both teams through our collaboration have made some great impact on the lives of people in Region Ten.
Dr. Marks said that he is optimistic of the potential to move the hospital to a higher level and probably look at establishing a specialized paediatric service, with the collaboration of Dr. Heyliger-Thomas.
The team presented four nebulizers among other items to the facility.

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