Abukara A., 9

Nine-year-old Abukara is one of five children of a petty trader and a housewife, none of whom can attend school for lack of fees. Home has a well, a pit latrine, and no electricity, and on about 20,000 naira a month, whatever food the family finds each day is all they eat. A week ago, Abukara was struck by severe headache and fever, followed by abdominal pain around her navel and watery, mucoid stooling. Three days ago, her mother noticed her face swelling, then her arms too, and the pain now robs her of sleep at night. At the hospital, she was found ill-looking and feverish at 38.5°C, and was diagnosed with severe enteritis, a serious inflammation of the intestines requiring urgent treatment.

Abukara has severe enteritis requiring prompt fluid resuscitation, electrolyte correction, nutritional support, and appropriate antimicrobial therapy where indicated. The critical complications of severe enteritis include life-threatening hypovolemic shock from rapid dehydration, severe electrolyte imbalances causing cardiac arrhythmias, intestinal perforation, and systemic sepsis from bacterial translocation across the damaged gut wall. Close monitoring is essential to prevent dehydration and complications. The prognosis is generally favorable with early diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Delayed management may lead to severe dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, sepsis, malnutrition, or other potentially life-threatening complications.