Three months in Cala, Transkei
Schiff, H.B.; Yudeiken, L.
South African Medical Journal 50(45): 1817
1976
ISSN/ISBN: 0256-9574 PMID: 996677 Document Number: 106103
The authors spent the last 3 months of 1975 seconded to the Cala Hospital, Transkei, where there had been no staff doctor for 4 years. Observations of nutritional interest were as follows. Pregnant women at the antenatal clinic often had Hb below 9 g/100 ml but it was thought wasteful to give Fe and folic acid before 36 weeks of pregnancy. Paediatrics comprised treatment of malnourished children. Marasmic children with kwashiorkor got full ward diet on which they did not gain bodyweight; the diet had much less than the minimum requirements of protein and energy. Protein and energy malnutrition was one of the 2 main disorders. Supplements of skimmed milk and vitamins were not readily available to treat PEM; the milk had been finished 6 months previously and no more had been ordered.