By Somaya Mandgar
When red spots began appearing on the skin of Maryam’s 10-year-old son, she had no idea what it was.
“When the red spots appeared on my child’s skin, I thought it was a simple and passing sensitivity, and that it would get better soon. But over time, the spots increased,” Maryam, 31, said.
“Our concern grew even more when these spots not only covered my child’s entire body but also completely covered his head and face, even appearing around his mouth.”
The mother of four decided with her husband to take their son from their home in the remote Jopalan area of Darr-e-Shahidan in Bamyan province’s Shahidan district to the closest health clinic – which wasn’t close at all.
“When my child’s condition worsened, I had to call one of our acquaintances who lives in Shibertoo to come and take us to the Shahidan hospital,” Maryam said.
“We paid 1000 afghanis (US$14) and went to the health center. They said that the patient must be taken to hospital as soon as possible.”
Her son had chickenpox, a condition that health officials say has had an outbreak in Bamyan in the past three months.
They fear lack of access to healthcare services and education about the disease have increased the risk of more children succumbing to it.
The disease, which resembles red skin blisters, is mostly seen in young children, and sometimes among adolescents and young adults. It’s highly contagious with adults more prone to experiencing severe symptoms compared to children.
The doctors at the hospital were able to treat Maryam’s son, but they told her that his was so serious when he arrived that he could have died.
But not everyone is as fortunate.
Gulchaman, 28, lost her five-year-old son to chickenpox two-and-a-half months ago.
“White and watery blisters appeared on my child’s skin. He couldn’t sleep all night, crying that his feet hurt, his head hurt, or saying he felt like he was burning in flames,” Gulchaman said.
Her family also lives in a remote location – the Takht area in Banyan’s Waras district – where it can be difficult to access basic healthcare facilities.
Gulchaman said from the moment she saw how sick her son was, she tried to get him to a healthcare center. But distance, road damage, and winter snow made it impossible.
“Our area has no roads, the clinic is very far away, and there is no phone signal in our area,” she said.
Gulchaman and her husband initially took their son to a local clinic by donkey, but there were no treatment facilities available for him there. The center’s staff recommended he be taken to the district hospital in Waras.
So they returned home by donkey to try to find a way to the hospital.
“When we got home, I told his father that we had to take our son to the district hospital. We borrowed 4,000 afghanis (US$55 dollars) from one of our relatives to take our child to the district hospital. But the medications there didn’t help either,” she said.
Chickenpox has been prevalent in Bamyan’s districts for years, but not to this extent, district health officials say. It is spreading at the same time as a measles outbreak.
A staff member of Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS), which helps fund healthcare clinics in Bamyan, spoke to Rukhshana Media on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to media.
They said that in the first two months of 2024, they registered at their clinics alone 10 cases of measles and 22 cases of chickenpox. They said the real number in the province would be much higher because many families are visiting private clinics or treating sicknesses with home remedies.
The head of Bamyan’s Taliban-run public health department Dr Jafar Zaki says that the chickenpox vaccine is not available to the Taliban health sector.
“The chickenpox vaccine is in Afghanistan’s neighboring countries and is being used. Unfortunately, because the vaccine’s not available in Afghanistan, the prevalence of this disease increases every year,” Dr Zaki said.
A sick person can easily infect others through coughing, sneezing, and skin lesions.
Lucky for Parwana, 12, her parents understood this once she was diagnosed.
She contracted chickenpox towards the end of winter. What began as itchy skin eventually developed into severe body aches and fever.
“My father took me to the hospital and they said, Your daughter has chickenpox. It was the first time I heard its name. I thought this disease was specific to chickens and could be transmitted to humans through them,” Parwana said.
“My mother made great efforts to keep me in a clean environment. I was alone in a warm room for five days,” she said of her recovery.
Private clinic pediatric specialist Dr Aziza Alemi said quarantine of the sick individual from other family members is one of the best methods to prevent its spread.
She said if a person suffering from chickenpox is not properly treated, there is a high chance of death.
“When this disease affects someone, they should be properly nourished, visit a healthcare center, be kept in a clean place, and provided with clean clothes,” she said.
While many families do not understand the severity of chickenpox or how to treat it, Dr Alemi said underresourced clinics can also be a source of risk.
“In most districts of Bamyan, unfortunately, healthcare clinics suffer from a lack of facilities. These centers still operate with very basic amenities for treating patients, which can increase the incidence and mortality rates of such diseases,” she said.
