The outbreak of listeriosis is continuing‚ with a total of 820 laboratory-confirmed cases recorded since January 23.
This is according to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases.
Most cases – some 59 per cent – have been identified in Gauteng.
Farrarmere resident Candice Turner shared her story on how she survived listeriosis five years ago.
Turner was diagnosed with listeriosis in 2013, while she was pregnant with her daughter, Laena-Mae, who is now five-years-old.
“Even though my pregnancy wasn’t easy, my daughter is the toughest child I know. She is a ray of sunshine and her name means shining light,” said Turner.
“However, she had days when her immune system was low, but has slowly built up immunity to certain diseases and continues to improve each day.”
Turner said her daughter has a rare auto-immune disease known as hypogammaglobulinemia, which means that when she does contract an infection or virus, her IGG levels in her blood drop and she needs to be hospitalised to keep the infection under control.
Turner was diagnosed while living in Germany.
“At the time I was visiting my fiancé and his family and we were touring the country,” she said.
“I was feeling unwell and thought I had flu as I had been living in Dubai and in Germany. It was the middle of winter, so I assumed it was the change of climate and I would recover in a few days.”
She said she then started vomiting about five or six times a day.
“I was weak and it was a struggle to get out of bed,” she said.
“We then decided to go to a hospital, where I was told two pieces of news – one good and one bad.
“I was told that I was pregnant, but I would need to terminate the pregnancy because I had an active listeriosis infection and the baby would not make it to full term.
The 35-year-old said when she received the news, she felt overwhelmed and did not understand all the intricacies; however, she refused the doctors to abort her baby.
“The doctors told me my baby had a five per cent chance of survival and if I went to full term, my child would be born with meningitis and would die shortly after birth.”
Turner then contacted her family in South Africa to research available treatment options.
“There were disagreements between my fiancé and in-laws, as they were concerned about my safety,” she said.
“My fiancé left us because I chose to keep the baby and fight to keep her alive.
“In my heart, I knew I had to take that chance and rather try everything in my power to make sure my baby survived.
“My family found a doctor who said I need to be given penicillin. I was given the pills by another doctor in Germany and after seven days, the symptoms seemed to subside, though I was still extremely weak and losing weight daily.
“About a month after the diagnosis, I flew back to South Africa; I needed to regain strength before I could fly back.”
When asked what kept her going, she said a supportive structure is everything.
“If it had not been for my family, who knows if either of us would be here today,” said Turner.
“My parents would take shifts to help me with my daughter so that I could rest and heal from the traumatic birth.”
Turner said she will always be grateful to Dr Ewa Stepien and Dr Phyllis Mzileni who monitored her throughout her pregnancy and when her daughter was born.
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