A schoolboy complained of pain and weakness and went to the sickbay where some drugs were administered on him. His reaction to the medications has disfigured and nearly killed him. FAITH YAHAYA reports
Last year the tragic death of 14-year-old Amina Ibrah-im in Kano State jolted everyone. Amina was said to have died of Steven Johnson Syndrome (SJS) after she reacted to Septrin tablet that was administered on her by a chemist. Numerous unreported cases of death resulting from reaction to drugs have continued to occur across Nigeria without proper acknowledgement. Regrettably, many of the fatalities are easily attributed to the wicked hands of diabolical wizards and ageing witches. Indeed, because of lingering belief in superstitions, official indifference, extensive quackery in the sale of medicine along with other causes, many more are still bound.
In standard practice, before a patient is treated of any ailment, the medical history of such patient is sought so as to serve as guide for medical practitioners in charge of such patients.
Another death has been averted but only just.
The family of the Wahabs never knew they would be visited with such horrific experience. It all began on March 30 when their son, Saheed visited the school sickbay to complain of body temperature at Command Secondary School, Suleja in Niger State.
After he lodged his complaints, a nurse allegedly administered three tablets of a drug said to be Fansidar, which caused an adverse reaction on the boy. The reaction is described as Steven Johnson Syndrome (SJS), a life-threatening skin condition that disfigures the body before finishing off its victim.
What Saheed thought to be normal signs of malaria ended up becoming what has left him disfigured to the point that his parents had to be called to come pick him up. Laboratory tests conducted showed that the boy was given Fansidar and he reacted to sulphur, one of the components of the drug.
The school denied giving the boy Fansidar. On his card at the school sickbay, the nurse wrote Paracetamol, Augmentin, B. Complex and Vitamin C. The school also claimed that he was sick from home.
The reaction caused him to miss his Junior Secondary School examinations. Our reporter who visited the boy in the hospital and at home saw that he still found it difficult to walk straight. His skin complexion has changed, his nails were gradually pulling off, his lips which were filled with blisters were swollen and covered with sores, his head had wounds, his male organ reduced to the size of that of a newborn, one of his eyes was reddish and he found it difficult to see with the other.
At intervals while our reporter was there, Saheed was busy scratching himself and appeared uncomfortable, at a point, he unconsciously voiced out, ‘This pain is more than labour pain.’
His mother kept repeating: “See what they have turned my handsome son to”. The mother also showed The Nation pictures of Abdul before the incident. “My son is now a complete opposite of himself. He used to be very handsome, but I still thank God that he escaped death”, she said with a deep sigh.
Narrating what happened, the boy who clocked 13 years on the hospital bed and who is still convalescing, spoke in a very low tone. He said: “On Sunday morning, I wanted to go and pray but I could not stand up because my body was paining me, so I was on bed. My friends came to wake me that we should go and bathe but I could not stand up, so I begged them to help me fetch water that I am weak, then it was dining time, they told me to go for food but I said I was tired so they took me to the clinic but they asked me to wait, so my friend took me back to the hostel. In the afternoon, they wanted to give me drugs but I had not eaten, so they asked me to go and look for what to eat, I was lying down then my friends went to tell my guardian and he gave me food. I went back to the sickbay but I was told that the time had passed and that I should come back in the evening. In the evening of Sunday, I went to the dinning but I could not eat because everything they gave had no taste. So I went back to the sickbay and I was given some drugs. Monday morning, I went back there and they gave me drug, in the afternoon again, they gave food and drug and in the night, they gave me food and drugs again. They gave me three tablets, other drugs and eye drop. I slept off and later the matron came to check some of us in the sick bay, she asked them why they kept me and why they had not called my parents. My body was already reacting to the drugs but the nurse did not tell the matron that she gave me Fansidar. The matron called my parents and asked them to come and pick me.
“Immediately I took the drugs, I started seeing rashes on my body, my eyes were paining me and I could not see, I could not walk and I could not talk.
On the claim that he was sick from home, he said: “No, I was not sick. You can ask my friends, when I resumed, I was very okay and we were playing before we went to read for our Junior WAEC because we had paper the next morning. I was not sick and I don’t even get sick easily. In the school, if you are sick, they will not allow the student to enter, I don’t know why they are saying that I was sick and it was Mr. Isah that signed my medical report. I was okay, I was not sick. If you are sick, the school will not allow you to enter and they will give you like two weeks to make sure you recover before you resume.
On what he wants from the school as compensation for the pains he suffered and still suffering, he said: “They should agree that they gave me Fansidar and if they don’t agree, I leave them to God to judge but my skin irritates me.”
The school has refused to identify the nurse who administered the drug and also refused to mention the drug he was given despite laboratory test conducted which indicated that he reacted to sulphur that is contained in Fansidar.
When The Nation visited the school to get their reaction, the school’s Regimented Sergeant Major (RSM), after firing questions on why The Nation came to the school, said: “We have over 1,000 students in this school and generally speaking, our body systems are not the same because we have different body systems. It is drug reaction, you and I can take Panadol for headache and it might work for me and not work for you. So, if one happens to react negatively to what is being prescribed, I think it does not warrant bringing journalists or reporting the case. If they (parents of the boy) are not satisfied, they are supposed to come to us. As I am talking to you right now, the school representatives are there. So, I don’t know what they are looking for. One of our school bus has gone to check the boy, they go there every day and they even give them welfare which is not supposed to because we know how much each student pays for medical bill in their school fees. If the school can pick interest in shouldering some responsibilities and showing concern by going there every day, then they have tried.
He further said: “You were also sitting at the school clinic, if it is a case that those in the clinic don’t know what they are doing there, students won’t continue to go to the school sickbay. Also, some people are trying to hide the truth because the boy reported today and the following day, he fell sick, automatically the sickness is even from home.”
On whether the school has medical records of students, he said; “You are supposed to see the matron but she was one of those who went to visit him and she went with his medical history. Generally speaking, we don’t also want to expose what some parents do when they are asked to bring medical history of their wards. Some parents falsify medical reports just because they want their kids to be admitted. Some children are even sicklers but the parents hide it from the school.
The mother who appeared angry with the reaction of the school authorities said: “We are not after their money; all we need is little show of concern and humanity. My son could not walk, see nor talk for one week. He was just on the bed. We could not even touch him with our bare hands, we had to use gloves to avoid infection and he was always discharging blood from his lips. To me, the painful aspect of this is their refusal to let us know the drug they administered on my son and the nurse that administered that drug. They should let us know if the nurse is qualified or a quack in order to protect other children from reoccurrence.
On what the school authorities have done since the incident and the claim by the school that they visit the boy daily, she said: “They are lying. They have not been coming as they claimed. The first day they came, it was my husband that called them and abused them on the phone and that was the fourth day after we took him from the school. The second time they came, it was one of our members who is a teacher that came to visit my son and she asked what the school authority was doing and we told her nothing but they visited once. The woman was surprised and she said she knows someone in the school. She placed a call to one of the staff to register our displeasure at the way things were handled. Again, last week Sunday, the Matron came with her church members and they said they saw vision and that it was beyond the drug reaction that it was a spiritual attack, so they prayed. On Monday again, they came with two students and others. They said they were sorry for what happened and that God will heal him. They brought one watermelon, one pineapple, banana, and apples. They also brought two envelopes and said one was from the PTA while the other was from the school authority and the Commandant, I opened it and found N20,000 in each of the envelopes.
She said, “We give him drugs worth N10,000 daily since this reaction started. We have done series of tests, he has collected several drips, gloves, and others. During one of the visits by the school, someone asked them who would foot the bill and they said they will be praying along with us. Is it the N40,000 they brought that will pay for his bills?
“On our own, we are not ready to take things up but they are complicating matter for themselves. We just want to know the drug he was given because my son said they gave him three tablets and all the nurses and doctors on this case confirmed that he was given Fansidar and all the tests conducted showed that too. The test also proved that it was advance case of Steven Johnson Syndrome.
In a recorded conversation made available to our reporter, the matron was asked what medication the boy was given, to which replied: “I am a medical person and if a child reacts like this, it is either Fansidar or Septrin, that is all.”
When the parents confronted her to know why Fansidar was omitted on his clinic card, she said: “When I got there, I had to get his previous cards to attach to it and because of that, I have gone to the school authorities to inform them that anything Fansidar or Septrin should be banned, I don’t want [them] again in the clinic.
When The Nation contacted the Army spokesman, Brig. General S.K. Usman for his reaction on the case, he referred our reporter to the officer at the Army Headquarters Garrison. When the officer, Major S.I Mustapha was contacted, he said he was not aware of the case but promised to confirm the case and get back to our reporter. The Major was yet to confirm the case as at the time of filing this report.
