Thinking Outside the Box to Diagnosis TB Through Use of TB LAM Test in a Chemist- A Case of Jamb Pharmacy, Mombasa

Jamb pharmacy is located in Migadini, Changamwe sub county-Mombasa county. It’s a densely populated place with people of different economic status. The pharmacy is quite busy and serves approximately 50-100 people per day. The business is run and owned by Sylvester Mbuvi a pharmaceutical technologist assisted with three staffs on a daily basis.

A journey of a thousand miles starts with one stem and as the Swahili saying goes, “Nyota njema huonekana asubuhi” really confirms the dedication of the proprietor of this facility. He was positive from the onset of the project engagement supported by PS Kenya, he attended and participated fully during the training. The provider was very active and showed the eager to learn new things. He was also one provider who asked a lot of questions and sought clarification where possible and where he didn’t understand.

On 26th November 2020 a client who had been frequenting the pharmacy came, she had a 1 year and four-month-old baby who had been seen at different private facilities with complains of cough, failure to thrive and fever. She had also been brought at the same pharmacy with the same complains at two different occasions. Upon further consultation, the mother to the child stated that she had a house help who had been coughing for almost one month. The house help was tested for HIV at the same pharmacy and the test was positive. She was referred to Bomu to be started on HAART.

Baby ‘Zuhura’, (not her really names) had all classical signs of TB:

  • Failure to gain weight
  • Persistent fever
  • Cough
  • Poor milestones development.

The proprietor of Jamb pharmacy decided to do the unthinkable at the private sector, sent the patient for TB LAM test owing the challenge of getting a sputum sample for Gene expert from under 5 years. The LAM test apparently turned positive and the patient was initiated on TB treatment at a nearby private facility (Bomu Hospital). Jamb were very proud to have saved life and their having little efforts in finding missing TB cases realized.

Related Posts