Measuring quality of life for children with Cerebral Palsy and their caregivers

Jacob van der Ende 2021

unknown territory, That is the best way to describe the area where we are implementing a study financed by OKF. Putumayo is a desolate region in the Amazon rainforest which is almost completely undescribed in any scientific paper. Malaria, dengue, and many other tropical infectious diseases are endemic. But how prevalent exactly, and which species, nobody knows. The only way to find out and to spread the truth is through a decent scientific study. We wrote a proposal for a study regarding the prevalence of malaria, it was granted by the OKF, and now we are in the middle of implementation.

We are taking blood samples from three different communities scattered throughout our region. One is as far as we can go upriver, the other as far as we can go downriver, and the third is the community where we live, right in the middle: Puerto el Carmen de Putumayo. We repeat the sampling after three months and after six months to see if there is any seasonal influence. We took samples for the first time in April, and next month we will start sampling the second batch.

Within the communities, while participants are waiting, we conduct a rapid diagnostic test. If the result is positive, we start treatment immediately. We take the whole blood sample back to our laboratory, where we prepare a blood smear for microscopic examination and a dried blood spot on filter paper for molecular diagnostics, possibly at a later stage.

It is truly amazing to lead this investigation, in the middle of this terra incognita of the Amazon.