SARUNI ASANA was admitted to the Hambantota Hospital with a fever and swollen knee joints. She gave a history of having had a sore throat some weeks previously. She was seen by Dr. Jennifer Johns and AusLMAT members. Her Anti-Streptolysin titre was raised at 400 confirming the diagnosis of Rheumatic Fever. An echo-cardiogram showed no evidence of a significant myocarditis. Saruni will need to have a monthly injection of Benzathine Penicillin to prevent her from getting another attack of rheumatic fever.

She hails from Beralihela Tissamaharama and is in year 9 of the Beralihela Maha Vidyalaya. Her father is a carpenter and mother a housewife. She has four brothers and two sisters.

She is pictured here at the Hambantota Base Hospital with a bag of goodies donated by AusLMAT. We will review Saruni at the hospital when we next visit Hambantota.