A living skeleton
5 March 2010, 07:03
By Thandi Skade
Too weak to walk, his ribcage, spinal cord and shoulder blades protruding against his dry skin, Thabang's* tiny body is giving in.
He is dying because a hospital and a clinic failed to administer antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.
The HI-virus has savaged the seven-year-old boy's immune system to the extent that, at 11kg, his frame has come to resemble a skeleton draped in a cloth.
Carried on his aunt's back, the gravely ill, emaciated boy arrived at the Mohlakeng Clinic in Randfontein on the West Rand last month expecting to receive ARVs, but instead nursing sisters at the clinic sent Thabang home with nothing more than protein porridge.
He was never referred to a clinician for a physical examination and nor was blood drawn to determine his CD4 count, even though he had been referred to Mohlakeng from the Zenzele Clinic in Zenzele township because they do not administer ARVs.
In January last year, Thabang had lost a lot of weight, had glandular swelling, and was vomiting and coughing insistently.
He visited Leratong Hospital, where they discovered he was HIV-positive and had TB.
Thabang's aunt, Kgomotso*, said he had bounced back to health after completing the six-month course of TB medication prescribed at the Zenzele Clinic. But then his health deteriorated suddenly in December.
"After Christmas, he started losing weight and vomiting again," she said.
She took Thabang to the Zenzele Clinic four times between early January and February. Despite his fragile physique, the clinic did not once conduct blood tests to determine his CD4 count.
The clinic claimed to be waiting for CD4 count results taken at Leratong Hospital at the beginning of last year.
It gave him antibiotics for thrush and diarrhoea pills, before referring him to the Mohlakeng Clinic for ARVs last month.
When they got to the Mohlakeng Clinic, Thabang and Kgomotso received two counselling sessions where they were asked questions relating to Thabang's health and home care, and that was it. His condition continued to deteriorate.
Fortunately for Thabang, Community Led Animal Welfare founder and director Cora Bailey happened to be in Zenzele, distributing food parcels at several homes on February 15, when she stumbled across Thabang and his family. They live in a two-bedroom shack with his great-grandmother, 69, and her four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Bailey arranged for Thabang to be taken to the Sparrow Rainbow Village, a dedicated HIV/Aids healthcare facility in Florida, two days later, where he has finally had access to ARVs.
Sparrow Village founder and director Corine McClintock, a trauma nurse with more than 30 years' experience, said that if Bailey hadn't found Thabang, she would have given him three more days to live before his immune system shut down and he died.
In the two weeks that Thabang has been at the Sparrow Village, his appetite has improved slightly and the vomiting is less severe.
Sister Vernon Mlebuka, a nurse at Sparrow, said he was being fed small portions of food every two hours. He now weighs 11,4kg, and wears a T-shirt for babies aged between 12 and 18 months, which hangs off his tiny frame.
When asked how he was feeling, he replied faintly: "I'm okay."
But his movements tell a different story - as he tried to get up, his legs buckled underneath him.
Thabang's great-grandmother said she was disappointed to hear that her great-grandchild, who she had cared for since his mother died in 2005, had never been receiving ARVs, and she wants to know why.
The Gauteng Health Department has acknowledged that Thabang had not been "managed according to protocol" by staff at the Mohlakeng Clinic.
"The nurse who received the file failed to follow up with the Zenzele Clinic and rather referred the client to the community health worker for adherence counselling," said spokesman Mandla Sidu.
He confirmed that no physical exam had been conducted by the nurse and admitted that the "dietician failed to refer the client to a clinician after examining the client".
He said remedial action had already taken place and the matter was under "urgent investigation, and drastic disciplinary action will be instituted if necessary".
Too weak to walk, his ribcage, spinal cord and shoulder blades protruding against his dry skin, Thabang's* tiny body is giving in.
He is dying because a hospital and a clinic failed to administer antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.
The HI-virus has savaged the seven-year-old boy's immune system to the extent that, at 11kg, his frame has come to resemble a skeleton draped in a cloth.
Carried on his aunt's back, the gravely ill, emaciated boy arrived at the Mohlakeng Clinic in Randfontein on the West Rand last month expecting to receive ARVs, but instead nursing sisters at the clinic sent Thabang home with nothing more than protein porridge.
He was never referred to a clinician for a physical examination and nor was blood drawn to determine his CD4 count, even though he had been referred to Mohlakeng from the Zenzele Clinic in Zenzele township because they do not administer ARVs.
In January last year, Thabang had lost a lot of weight, had glandular swelling, and was vomiting and coughing insistently.
He visited Leratong Hospital, where they discovered he was HIV-positive and had TB.
Thabang's aunt, Kgomotso*, said he had bounced back to health after completing the six-month course of TB medication prescribed at the Zenzele Clinic. But then his health deteriorated suddenly in December.
"After Christmas, he started losing weight and vomiting again," she said.
She took Thabang to the Zenzele Clinic four times between early January and February. Despite his fragile physique, the clinic did not once conduct blood tests to determine his CD4 count.
The clinic claimed to be waiting for CD4 count results taken at Leratong Hospital at the beginning of last year.
It gave him antibiotics for thrush and diarrhoea pills, before referring him to the Mohlakeng Clinic for ARVs last month.
When they got to the Mohlakeng Clinic, Thabang and Kgomotso received two counselling sessions where they were asked questions relating to Thabang's health and home care, and that was it. His condition continued to deteriorate.
Fortunately for Thabang, Community Led Animal Welfare founder and director Cora Bailey happened to be in Zenzele, distributing food parcels at several homes on February 15, when she stumbled across Thabang and his family. They live in a two-bedroom shack with his great-grandmother, 69, and her four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Bailey arranged for Thabang to be taken to the Sparrow Rainbow Village, a dedicated HIV/Aids healthcare facility in Florida, two days later, where he has finally had access to ARVs.
Sparrow Village founder and director Corine McClintock, a trauma nurse with more than 30 years' experience, said that if Bailey hadn't found Thabang, she would have given him three more days to live before his immune system shut down and he died.
In the two weeks that Thabang has been at the Sparrow Village, his appetite has improved slightly and the vomiting is less severe.
Sister Vernon Mlebuka, a nurse at Sparrow, said he was being fed small portions of food every two hours. He now weighs 11,4kg, and wears a T-shirt for babies aged between 12 and 18 months, which hangs off his tiny frame.
When asked how he was feeling, he replied faintly: "I'm okay."
But his movements tell a different story - as he tried to get up, his legs buckled underneath him.
Thabang's great-grandmother said she was disappointed to hear that her great-grandchild, who she had cared for since his mother died in 2005, had never been receiving ARVs, and she wants to know why.
The Gauteng Health Department has acknowledged that Thabang had not been "managed according to protocol" by staff at the Mohlakeng Clinic.
"The nurse who received the file failed to follow up with the Zenzele Clinic and rather referred the client to the community health worker for adherence counselling," said spokesman Mandla Sidu.
He confirmed that no physical exam had been conducted by the nurse and admitted that the "dietician failed to refer the client to a clinician after examining the client".
He said remedial action had already taken place and the matter was under "urgent investigation, and drastic disciplinary action will be instituted if necessary".
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on March 05, 2010
Pretoria
