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Gauteng/Mpumalanga multilingual newspaper
VOL.10 ISSUE #5 MARCH 24-31, 2023
DAILY NEWS ON www.mapepeza.online
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Against all odds this mom wins!
In the face of adversity, one mother’s determination to save her child has paid off. By NThabiseng Moloi
In a heart-warming turn of events, Cecilia Lelosa’s twoyear-old son Khotso is finally receiving the medical care he needs, thanks to the intervention of the Gauteng Department of Health and Mapepeza News Media. Cecilia (32) from Windmill Park in the City of Ekurhuleni, had a traumatic experience giving birth to her son at the J. Dumane clinic in Vosloorus.
would have assisted his son to get medical attention from any other public health institution free of charge. Cecilia shared her story of adversity with Mapepeza News Media which prompted the team to make enquiries that ensured she received the necessary help.
Story continues inside
Due to her high blood pressure, she was transferred to the nearest hospital, where she was left alone in a ward and gave birth on her own. Sadly, during the labour, the newborn baby hit his head on the metal part of the bed. She immediately cried for help, however she was insulted instead of receiving the necessary assistance.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has announced that the detection rate of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is rising sharply. The NICD has since issued a warning to clinicians and hospitals to prepare for an uptick in paediatric admissions. RSV, according to the public health institute, is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) among young children. It is highly contagious and transmits mainly by respiratory droplets. Among children younger than five years old, the NICD found that the RSV detection rate is currently at moderate levels and continues to rise steeply.
“You Lesotho people are annoying, stop making noise,” one of the healthcare workers said to a distressed Lelosa. The ordeal didn’t end there. Soon after giving birth to his son, Khotso, the little one was diagnosed with a medical condition that required surgery. She was told the procedure which would cost over R15,000 – since Cecilia is not a South African citizen.
“Compared to the circulation of RSV between 2014 and 2019, the detection rate of RSV appears to be rising more sharply in recent weeks, although within the range of what has been seen in the past,” the public health institute said.
As an unemployed single mother, she didn’t have the means to afford the operation, and she feared for her two year old son’s life.
Meanwhile, data on increased RSV circulation and increased severe RSV-associated illness, which includes hospitalisation among children who are under a year old from November to February have been reported in the northern hemisphere countries.
Baby Khotso is assumed to have a condition called Hydrocephalus. This disease is characterized by accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) occurs within the brain, also called ‘water in the brain’. This typically causes increased pressure inside the skull. In infants, hydrocephalus may be seen as a rapid increase in head size. Other symptoms may include vomiting, sleepiness, seizures, and downward pointing of the eyes.
“It is possible that the RSV season in South Africa will follow a similar trend.”
As a foreign national, Lelosa was unable to get a birth certificate from the Home Affairs department, which
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New RSV infections on the rise!
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