Case Study

Fatima Mwadori

Fatima is the second youngest of five children. Her grandmother looks after Fatima and her siblings and tends crops at the family’s homestead in Kilifi, Southern Kenya. Fatima’s mother works as a casual laborer in nearby Mombasa, sending money back to her large family when she can.

In September 2004, Fatima became very ill. She had a fever, was coughing constantly and refused to eat. Her grandmother had already tried traditional remedies, but found that they weren’t effective. She took Fatima to the nearest private health clinic where the child was given oral and intravenous drugs.

But Fatima’s condition worsened over the week, and her extremely worried grandmother took the little girl to the hospital where she was immediately admitted and diagnosed with pneumococcal pneumonia.

While Fatima was in the hospital, her grandmother remained constantly at her bedside – not only to comfort her, but also to feed, clean, and care for her. Because nurses are in very short supply, caregivers – usually the mother or other female relative – must stay with an ill child in the hospital. Sick with fear herself over the thought that her granddaughter might die, Fatima’s grandmother couldn’t sleep or eat.

For the first two days Fatima was unable to even catch her breath well enough to be able to eat. Happily, after one week at Kilifi District Hospital and following a series of treatment with intravenous medicines, pills, and fluids, Fatima’s condition improved, and she was eventually discharged.

Fatima’s illness hit her grandmother’s finances hard. Fatima’s hospital stay and medicine cost more than the price of two weeks’ worth of food for the whole family. While her grandmother cared for Fatima in the hospital, she had to rely on relatives to take care of her other grandchildren. Crucial farm work – the family’s main source of income – was ignored for two weeks.

Although Fatima was the only member of her family who had pneumonia, and despite making a good recovery, the effects of pneumococcal disease were strongly felt by all the members of the family and had long-term repercussions.

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Stories and photographs of the case studies are courtesy of the families and children with permission to PneumoADIP for use in educational and non-commerical purposes only. Reproduction or translation of the case studies, requires explicit, prior authorization in writing. Applications and enquiries should be addressed to pneuadip@jhsph.edu.