Adamu K., 5

Five-year-old Adamu Kabiru is a cheerful, affectionate boy who loves playing with his siblings and chatting with his mother. He is one of 13 children squeezed with their parents into a single rented room. His father sells onions on a small scale and his mother sews caps, together earning about 30,000 naira a month, barely enough to feed such a large household. The children fetch water from a community borehole and, unable to afford formal school, attend the community Islamiyya school. For four days, Adamu battled high fever with chills, bloody diarrhoea five to six times daily, abdominal cramps, and weakness. He arrived at the hospital acutely ill, feverish, dehydrated, and pale. Tests confirmed severe malaria with high parasite density, colitis, and moderate anaemia (PCV 26%).

With proper treatment, Adamu’s prognosis is good and he is expected to make a full recovery, regain his strength, and return to normal growth and daily activities. The antimalarials and antibiotics will clear the infection, stop the diarrhea, and correct his anemia, preventing long-term complications. If left untreated, the severe malaria and colitis could quickly lead to severe dehydration, organ failure, and may be life-threatening for the child.