Angela T., 4

Tamara is a young girl born to a teenage mother who currently volunteers as an untrained teacher at a local school. She is calm, respectful, and lives with her elderly and unwell maternal grandmother. Despite her age, Tamara dreams of becoming a teacher like her mother and hopes that one day she will be able to support her grandmother. She was brought to the facility with a history of chronic, recurrent tonsillar swelling that temporarily improves with over-the-counter antibiotics. This was accompanied by painful swallowing and fever. On examination, she had bilateral enlarged tonsils.

Tamara was admitted when she had fears of taking solid food due to the pain she was experiencing while swallowing. She was used to taking porridge, yoghurt, cold tea and water. Having responded well to treatment, she was able to now eat rice, cooked bananas, potatoes and even take fruits like oranges. Her face brightened that you could tell she is no longer in pain.

Angela's prognosis is good. With proper treatment, children with chronic tonsillitis with pus pockets usually recover well. The inpatient antibiotics and supportive care that will be given with improve Angela's symptoms However, she will require monitoring, and if the infections keep coming back or the tonsils cause problems with breathing or swallowing, surgery to remove the tonsils may be recommended. With care and follow-up, the outlook is very good.