In recent weeks, community health centers and national reference hospitals have reported an increase in patients with respiratory tract diseases, doctors from Nicaraguan centers warn.
The Health Map and the epidemiological bulletins of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) still do not present the update on this increase, a task pending since 2023; However, specialists estimate that at least 161 patients are treated for pneumonia in the country.
“We are talking about almost 800 new cases in a week,” says one of the doctors. In 2023, Minsa reports indicated that the most frequent cause of hospitalization was pneumonia with 27,861 cases, followed by diarrhea and infectious gastroenteritis with 15,573, diseases of the gallbladder, bile ducts and pancreas with 14,000. 804 and fever suspected of dengue with 12,162 diagnoses.
A series of medicinal herbs such as Turmeric, Oregano, Rosemary among others
The population complains that in hospitals they only give them prescriptions and send them “to rest” for a couple of days, while anti-flu and medicines to treat rainy season viruses have increased in price in pharmacies. Two weeks ago, several citizens reported an increase of between five and ten córdobas in pills for these ailments.
Grandmothers to the rescue of health and the economy
Some pharmacists with their businesses in Managua and others in Estelí blame the laboratories for the increases. “We have no choice but to apply it,” one owner justified.
Consuelo González, a 77-year-old woman, originally from El Sauce, municipality of León, has eight children, of which six are boys and two are girls. His children have filled his house with 14 grandchildren and two male great-grandchildren.
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He told this report that everyone at home has gotten sick from the breezes and rains of the season. “Before, the kids were not as weak (vulnerable in their health) as they are now,” says the midwife. “Now with a half whine of the wind there they are sick with those dog coughs (acute and constant)”, criticism. He says that treating illnesses in a medical center is not only expensive in terms of time and transportation, the worst thing is the medicines. “That is very expensive,” he points out.
González maintains that as a child, when she got sick, her parents and grandparents gave her “plant decoctions” that, in addition to being effective, did not cost more than “a jug of water, the stove, and searching for the plant in the mountains and pastures.” . “That’s how you were cured,” he remarks.
He related, for example, that “the bark of a tree called Matahambre or Cuajadita, that little peel, can be added to any medicine, it takes away stomach pains in no time or if you have diarrhea,” explains Consuelo. «I already cooked these kids and they looked cured, and without spending so much. “I recommend returning to natural medicine for illnesses that can be cured this way,” he concludes.
“For all evil,” they say
Sitting in a rocking chair that no one touches in her house because whoever does it gets into trouble with a rustic cane that always accompanies her, the grandmother assured that there are homemade infusions for every illness.
«I remember that for coughs or colds there is nothing like a lemon grass decoction, that herb is the best, especially now that there are so many viruses. The other day one of my two daughters, Josefa, the eldest of 51 years old, told me that her boy, my grandson, got sick and spent two weeks with a cough, fever and vomiting. He spent almost a thousand pesos on medicines. An outrage. With these herbs, I wouldn’t spend anything,” said the woman from Sauce.
Images of the Moringa pod, its seed is used to cure various common diseases such as cough and flu.
Altagracia was born in Río Grande, municipality of Matagalpa. At 79 years old, she assures that she has never depended on medicines and hospitals for health.
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«I heal myself. I spent more than 30 years without suffering from monthly pain (menstrual), zero pain, zero cramps, I always had my sage decoction on hand, that is a leaf from a miraculous stick, what pills, or anything for belly pain . Listen, there is nothing like sage,” he says.
“Look at my 12 kids (children) and here I am, healthy thanks to the little virgin and the little plants that ‘Pope Chu’ (God) left us,” says the woman who also said that she has also cured her grandchildren with medicinal plants. . «Juancito (Juan), who is the oldest of my children, fell from a Guava tree, for being lazy; His foot swelled and he screamed. The old kid was nine years old, I only needed to soak his foot in a decoction of Mango Mechudo leaf and in two hours the boy was already running,” said Doña Altagracia.
Images of the Moringa flower used to strengthen people’s immune systems.
The children and grandchildren of Crecencia Suazo, a 91-year-old woman born in Yalagüina, municipality of Madriz, inherited “the faith” in medicinal plants from her. «My mom gave birth to seven kids and we are all alive. “He healed us with plants, now we heal our kids like this,” says one of his eldest daughters.
“Here we cure those kids’ coughs, bellyaches or any of those illnesses unless things get serious, which doesn’t always happen because those kids are strong,” Suazo’s daughter reiterated.
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He recalled that an uncle’s daughter looked bad after the operation that the doctors performed on her (cesarean section), “to deliver Carlitos, who is her first child.” «My mom said she gasped for air. The colic was killing her, so she (Doña Crecencia) sent her husband to the mountains to look for some Turpentine Tar, she wrapped it in a strip of cloth and put it on, after half an hour the woman was like new,” she said.
The herbs are in the markets
For this report, we visited some sections of the Oriental market, specifically in the fish shed, behind where the sugar factory was. There is one of the few owners of sections of that market where these natural herbs are sold. She asked to be called Ramona. “Yes, a lot of people are coming here to look for healing herbs,” he commented.
«Turmeric, a natural anti-inflammatory, is in high demand here. It is drunk in tea, another that is in great demand is moringa, basil, aloe vera, oregano leaves are also in demand, which is very good, the best natural antibiotic,” said the merchant.
“The truth is that there are so many medicinal plants that it is not necessary to resort to so many pills and thus one saves a few cents,” he recommended.