Mercy A., 1

Mercy is the first-born twin in a family of seven siblings. She and her twin sister are the youngest children in the family. While the older siblings stay with relatives, Mercy lives with her mother, a known epileptic, and her twin sister in a one-roomed mud-walled house. Her mother is unemployed and struggles to provide for the family under difficult financial conditions. According to her mother, Mercy had been well until she suddenly developed repeated episodes of diarrhoea and vomiting. At first, her mother hoped the illness would improve on its own while monitoring her from home. However, by the second day, Mercy’s condition had worsened significantly. She became weak, lethargic, unable to feed well, dehydrated, and continuously restless from the persistent vomiting and diarrhoea. She appeared exhausted, cried excessively, and looked severely ill, causing great concern to her mother. With no money for transport, her mother carried Mercy on her back and walked for over an hour to Siaya County Referral Hospital seeking urgent treatment after hearing about Helpster Charity from a Community Health Volunteer.

Mercy was brought to the hospital exhibiting symptoms like vomiting,coughing and passing of loose stool. Investigations were done and she was found to be malnourished. These results warranted admission and she was admitted for a number of days for management. In the ward she was given IV X-pen . She was also given ORS to make up for the minerals and fluids lost and fed on nutrious food. Grace responded well to treatment and was discharged on orals and was advised to visit the hospital at a later date for review. The area CHP was also liased with to ensure Mercy was brought for review.

One-year-old admitted for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) at Siaya County Referral Hospital has a generally positive, yet guarded, prognosis, with a likely recovery, though they face a high risk of prolonged hospitalization (often 2–3 weeks) or post-discharge mortality, particularly if severe complications. Mercy received prompt treatment and is expected to make a full recovery, however follow up will still be done to ensure proper nutrition intake is followed.