Case Study

Nayeem

Nayeem was just five months old and had been suffering with a fever for eight continuous days when he started experiencing periodic convulsions. Leaving their other two children (including Nayeem’s twin sister) with a neighbor, his parents rushed him to the hospital.

Nayeem’s parents stood with him in a queue for the outdoor patients’ service for over an hour. When they finally saw a doctor, Nayeem was immediately admitted to the hospital. His father realized that with a daily income of less than $5, and no savings, it would be impossible for him to pay for his son’s stay in the hospital. So, he immediately left in search of extra work and money. Nayeem’s mother, on the other hand, did not leave her son’s bedside. She could not move her eyes from immobile Nayeem, who used to be an active and cheerful child, smiling at every little thing.

The doctors confirmed Nayeem was suffering from pneumococcal meningitis. The disease had already caused serious and irreversible damage to the child’s brain, leaving him with serious physical and mental disabilities.

The doctors struggled to help his parents fully understand the full impact of Nayeem’s brain damage. Struggling to keep up with hospital bills and against the advice of the doctors, Nayeem’s parents took him home, hopeful that with their care and love, their child would start to improve.

Eighteen months later there was no improvement in Nayeem. His twin sister, Monica, grew quickly into a beautiful little girl who spent her days crawling around the house, breaking all her toys, learning to speak, and fighting with her older brother. Nayeem, on the other hand, spent his days lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to see, hear, talk, sit or do anything that his twin sister or any other child of his age would normally be expected to do.

The entire family was impacted by Nayeem’s illness. His father had to desperately search for work, to make sure that he could feed his family, as he was forced to sell his cultivating land to meet the hospital costs. When Nayeem’s older brother, Zahir, reached the age to go to school, his family was unable to afford to pay for supplies for him. His mother spent all her time caring for all her young son’s needs, leaving her tired and with little time for the rest of the family.

Sadly, two years after first contracting pneumococcal pneumonia, Nayeem lost his fight for life and died from complications caused by this easily preventable disease.

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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.