Monica Milagro Elias Bonilla
In March, the UNC Chapel Hill group had a Medical and Dental brigade in the community of Naranjal. On their brigade, a little girl named Monica had come to the brigade. This little 3 year old girl has cataracts in one eye and Juvenile Rheaumatoid Arthritis (JRA). The patient referral team visited Monica at the end of March and spoke with her family regarding her care. Her mother has informed our team that she had surgery to remove the cataract but it was unsuccessful and that Monica's medicine had run out for her JRA.
With the help of the UNC Chapel Hill group and their willingness to help this case, we have opened this case and took Monica on Thursday, April 3rd to see another ophthalmologist regarding her care. At this appointment, the patient referral team learned that Monica was diagnosed with Congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV).
Congenital Cytomegalovirs is a group of symptoms that occur when an infant is infected with the cytomegalovirus before birth. The problem is that most people do not realize that they have been infected with CMV because it does not produce obvious symptoms. Symtpoms of CMV infection can be similar to those of mononucleosis and include*:
- high fever
- fatigue
- joint stiffness, muscle aches or joint pain
- night sweats
- sore throat
- weakness
- loss of appetite
- weight loss
Permanent health problems or disabilities that may occur due to cCMV infection*:
- Hearing loss
- Vision Loss
- Mental Disability
- Feeding Issues
- Sleeping Issues
- Sensory Issues
- Behavior Issues
- Small Head/Small Brain (Microcephaly)
- Intercranial Calcifications
- Lack of Coordination
- Cerebral Palsy
- Seizures
Due to this virus, Monica's vision loss has become a problem. The ophthalmologist has informed us that there is nothing to do to correct her eyesight in the eye that had the cataract. But, we can help her by protecting and saving her other eye with glasses. She also has an astigmatism in her functioning eye. The doctor advised that we take care of this immediately as to protect her good eye from worsening. We anticipate these glasses to cost $200.
UPDATE: The patient referral team has been able to provide Monica with the glasses she needs! We hope these glasses will be able to protect her vision in her one good eye.
If you would like to know more about this case or want to get further involved, please contact Grace Goryoka at grace.goryoka@globalbrigades.org
*Information found at http://www.stopcmv.org/about_cmv