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Child infected with deadly bacterium can’t find suitable foot brace
– family seeks help
Relatives of two-year-old Safiyah Mohamed whose right foot has been infected with a deadly bacterium are frustrated. They are unable to find a suitable foot brace which would save her hip bone from further deterioration.
The child has been receiving constant treatments to reduce the impact of the bacterium which was beginning to spread even to her private parts, and has already started consuming her right hip bone, making it very fragile.
Safiyah Mohamed and her mother, Chandroutie Seepersaud
A foot brace would therefore aid her “not so functional” foot, by easing the pressure on the hip bone.
But unfortunately, Trinidad and Tobago as well as in England do not have any braces small enough to fit the foot of a two-year-old.
“When we tell them the age, they don’t have for such small children, so we don’t really know what else to do right now,” Seepersaud told Kaieteur News yesterday.
The woman added that since she and her husband have no relatives in the United States of America, checks to that country have not yet been made. And while she wants to help her daughter, the woman said that she is against spending her savings on going to the US, as the cost for her daughter’s next surgery, a third, would be quite costly.
“We still trying, but we don’t have any relatives there to check and see if they have such small ones. Everybody suggesting that I go and look for myself, but I don’t want to spend the money on going there, because the next surgery gon be expensive, and we still saving up for that,” the woman said.
Seepersaud had told Kaieteur News that she and her husband only realized that something was wrong with the child’s foot, when she was one year old.
“She just started limping and getting a hot, hot fever; when I bathe she and rub her right foot she would cry and try to pull away. I realise something wrong but I didn’t really know is what happen,” the woman said.
It was as a result of this that the child’s uncle tried to anoint the toddler’s foot to ascertain whether she had sustained an injury. By this time little Safiyah’s upper thigh was already swollen.
After she turned 18 months, the child was taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where an x-ray of her right leg was done. While nothing was found to be wrong with any of her bones, Seepersaud said that the attending doctor there concluded that the child might have had an infection of some sort. The toddler was then administered an antibiotic suspension.
And during a subsequent visit to the hospital, another x-ray was done. An internal abscess was detected.
“Right away he (the Doctor) transfer she to the public hospital for more medical attention,” the distraught mother said. Seepersaud recalled that as Safiyah was examined at the Georgetown Public Hospital, she was rushed to the operating theatre for a surgical procedure to the upper portion of her thigh to remove the destructive bacterium. Seepersaud explained that after a few days, another doctor’s examination revealed that “everything wasn’t clean”.
This called for another surgical procedure, which then, asserted that the child had an incurable bacterium.
According to reports, the illness has been linked to a situation referred to as-Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). This is a bacterium which is responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans.
MRSA is said to be especially troublesome in hospitals, prisons, schools, and nursing homes, where patients with open wounds, invasive devices, and weakened immune systems are at greater risk of infection.
Seepersaud said yesterday that Safiyah’s condition is stable. The child who was unable to eat is now able to munch on fruits, and its juices.
Her condition was so severe last December, that doctors were contemplating on having the child’s leg amputated to prevent the spread of the bacterium.
Doctors have indicated the need for little Safiyah to undertake a bone marrow transplant. But first, there is a need to treat the bacterium and control it.
Safiyah is now required to take two injections twice daily. These are being administered at home by a qualified nurse.
Safiyah’s family members are pleading with readers to help find a suitable foot brace. They also welcome financial assistances to aid the child’s next surgery, as well as her treatments.
Those desirous of rendering such critical aid can contact Seepersaud or her relatives on telephone numbers 265-5971, 681-5967, or 678-3671. Monies can also be added to the family’s Republic Bank account number-2470672.
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