Young malaria patient, diagnosed on New Year’s Eve, now in Jo’burg General
Father and daughter diagnosed with malaria.
EVANDER – Ms Elmien Fourie, a your Musina woman who was diagnosed at the Evander Hospital with cerebral malaria on New Year’s Eve, is now being kept in an induced coma in Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.
This 20-year old beautician student and her parents, Mr Manie and Ms Natasja Fourie, were visiting her brother, Jaco, on a farm near Kriel when she fell violently ill.
According to her sister-in-law, Nadia, Ms Fourie was already feeling under the weather when they arrived on the farm last week.
She went to a doctor in Musina beforehand where she tested negative for malaria. She received medication for a bladder infection.
Ms Fourie was initially taken to the emergency unit of the MediClinic Highveld from where she was transferred to Evander Hospital, but was shortly thereafter sent back to the medi-clinic.
Her condition deteriorated rapidly and she needed intensive medical care.
A plea for financial help was posted on Facebook as the Fouries do not have a medical aid fund.
As Ms Fourie’s condition further declined, the call was made to transfer her on Tuesday night to the intensive care unit of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.
Nadia told the Ridge Times that her sister-in-law is receiving dialysis and will soon undergo a brain scan.
“Her condition seemed to have stabilised for now, but if it changes for the worst, Elmien will have to be airlifted to Rob Ferreira Hospital in Nelspruit where there is a doctor renowned for successfully treating malaria patients.”
Ms Fourie’s father also began showing signs of malaria when he visited his daughter in Evander Hospital.
He was diagnosed and also admitted.
Mr Fourie is also being treated at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and is recuperating well.
