Australasian Medical Journal
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The education and training levels of the South African traditional healer: A present-day perspective
No full textBackgroundThe traditional healer in Southern Africa received new status as a statutorily recognized health professional with the promulgation of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 (2007). Usually such recognition is only awarded after a profession’s formal education in the form of established study programmes and training and places of learning has been confirmed. Lawmakers involved in the promulgation of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act No 22 failed to confirm the existence of such an education culture and foundation. Very little can be gauged from the formal literature on the kind and the quality of the training that the traditional healers receive and their abilities to diagnose and treat without risk to the lives of patients.The prominent question at this stage is whether traditional healers’ levels of education and training meet the minimum requirements prescribed for health professionals in the healthcare sector.AimsThe present study aimed to determine the education and training levels of practicing South African traditional healers.Methods This is an exploratory and descriptive study based on the modern historical approach of investigation and literature reviewing. The emphasis is on using present-day documentation, like articles and reports, books and newspapers, as primary sources to reflect on the present status and levels of traditional healers’ education and training. The findings are offered in narrative form.Results No formally established education and training infrastructure has ever been developed for the South African traditional healing profession. Up to 2007, there was also no governmental support in this regard. A formal education and training system is still in its infancy. There is, however, a well-established informal training system that developed over many years.ConclusionThe absence of an advanced and statutorily recognized education and training system can make the immediate change-over from traditional healing as an unregulated endeavour to a profession and acceptance of the traditional healer as part of the healthcare establishments, very difficult and problematic. Over against this, there is a functioning informal training system exists, confirming that minimum levels of education and training are present
Snake bite: An unusual cause of ischaemic stroke
Get PDFSnake bite continues to be one of the major and potential contributors for morbidity and mortality in India. Intracranial haemorrhage causing neurological deficits is a known entity due to snake bite but presentation with infarction is rare. The authors report a case of a healthy middle aged female who presented within hours of envenomation with altered sensorium and evaluation revealed left hemiplegia with deranged coagulation profile and multiple ischaemic infarcts instead of haemorrhage as a consequence of vasculotoxic envenomation due to viper bite
Multiple intra-renal pathological injury patterns in resistant myeloma
Get PDFRenal dysfunction in patients with multiple myeloma has a heterogeneous aetiology ranging from pre-renal, intra-renal to post-renal causes. Common pathological forms of paraproteinemic disease include cast nephropathy, amyloidosis and Immunoglobulin chain deposition disease. Infrequently cryoglobulinemic glomerulonephritis and light chain proximal tubulopathy have also been described. The presence of multiple intra-renal pathological injury patterns has been described only once previously with immunoglobulin light chains. We report a patient with long standing treatment resistant multiple myeloma and new onset progressive renal failure with heavy and light-chain amyloidosis, cast nephropathy and proximal tubulopathy on renal biopsy
Septic arthritis caused by pet rodents: A diagnostic dilemma
Get PDFRat bite fever is a rare systemic illness, with a mortality rate of about 13% without treatment. It is caused by infection with Streptobacillus moniliformis, a gram-negative bacillus. Infection can result from a bite or scratch from an infected or colonized rat, or from handling rats at home or the workplace.We describe a case of rat bite fever in a 46-year-old healthy lady which was transmitted without a history of being bitten or scratched. With prompt liaison with local microbiologists we grew Streptobacillus moniliformis from both blood and synovial fluid for the first time. Our case was complicated by septic arthritis despite treatment with appropriate antibiotics
Reversible Transient Lesion of the Corpus Callosum Secondary to Meningoencephalitis
Get PDFA 40-year-old male, presented with right-sided weakness, ataxia, expressive dysphasia and was treated for cerebrovascular accident (CVA). However, he became increasingly confused, disorientated and reported worsening headache along with fevers, photophobia and neck stiffness. On further history, the patient’s family reported the patient as being more confused and incoherent rather than having true ataxia and expressive dysphasia. CSF results were consistent with viral meningoencephalitis and MRI revealed a crescent shaped splenial lesion. He was treated empirically with ceftriaxone and acyclovir. On follow up, he remained symptom free and MRI showed regression of the splenial lesion. Reversible transient splenial lesions of the corpus callosum secondary to viral meningoencephalitis are rarely encountered. This case highlights the importance of exploring different aetiologies of splenial lesions to avoid misdiagnoses with more commonly seen conditions such as CVA