KCCR develops method for diagnosis of buruli ulcer

Kumasi, Jan. 22, GNA- The Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR) into Tropical Medicine, has developed a new research, known as the PCR Field Diagnostic method, for accurate identification and diagnosis of buruli ulcer.

Dr. Thomas F. Kruppa, Director of the KCCR who announced this said, even though the method was developed about a year ago, it is yet to be formally introduced to the Ministry of Health (MOH). Dr Kruppa, who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Kumasi on Tuesday, said progress made by the KCCR in its efforts at finding an effective identification and diagnosis method for the disease, started last two years.

The KCCR is a joint venture between the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), MOH, and the Bernhard Notch Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany.

It has a mission for providing a scientific platform for conducting high quality research projects in the area of tropical medicine.

Flanked by the Deputy Director of the Centre, Professor Ohene Adjei and other top management personnel, Dr Kruppa said currently, the new method is being tested on samples collected from the country at KCCR.

He said if after six months of testing, the method is certified and guaranteed, the KCCR would then formally inform the MOH about it. Dr Kruppa also disclosed that the KCCR had embarked on a programme under which people in communities vulnerable to the disease were being trained as village health workers, who are to help in early detection of the disease, and report such cases to the hospital for prompt attention. He advised people who detect any nodules on their bodies, "whether painful or not, to quickly report to the hospital for diagnosis to ascertain whether or not it is a buruli ulcer".

Dr Kruppa said this was important since early detection of the disease makes treatment easier.

On the mode of infection of buruli ulcer, Dr Kruppa stated, "as at now the mode of infection of the disease is still unknown, but it is widely suspected that environmental degradation is a major contributory factor".