Ibrahim is a 6 year old boy who presented to the hospital 2 days ago. He had experienced 3 days of fever, abdominal pain and headache. He also had not had any urine output the prior 24 hours before admission. His labs revealed he was extremely anemic and his malaria smear was positive. A catheter was placed revealing very dark urine. This confirmed our suspicion that he has Blackwater fever, an old term to describe a complication of severe malaria. The severe destruction of red cells in the blood results in the kidneys shutting down. Yesterday we gave Ibrahim a blood transfusion, IV fluids and a diuretic. As Tim and I walked into the Peds ward this morning Ibrahim’s eyes were wide open to our delight. As we walked further into the ward we could see that his urine bag was nearly full telling us that his kidneys were working. We could not help but thanking God for the small miracle that happened overnight. He suffered a seizure this morning which is not uncommon with Malaria. Overall he is much better this evening and we are optimistic he will be better tomorrow morning.
Keep Ibrahim in your prayers.
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