Martin Mwita, a journalist at The Star reported to work one morning this January, but was given a sick off after developing flu that worsened by the hour. The flu was gone the following day, but his face was misaligned on one side.

“My mouth had turned one side, and the left side of the face had dropped. The left eye was continuously shedding tears,” recalls Mwita, who was told by a doctor that a viral infection, caused by the flu, had affected his facial nerves, which had either become inflamed, swollen or compressed. “That is when I first heard of the word Bell’s Palsy,” says Mwita.

Dr Judith Kwasa, a neurologist and physician, explains that Bell’s Palsy typically occurs after an insignificant throat infection, usually of viral nature. “The preceding throat infection may be mild and recover spontaneously, and then a few days or weeks later, one side of the face is noted to droop, with the mouth twisting to the stronger side,” explains Dr Kwasa, who is also a lecturer in the Department of Clinical Medicine and Therapeutics, School of Medicine, University of Nairobi.