5 Years with Recurrent Diarrhoea: A Delayed Diagnosis of Crohn's Disease in a Kenyan Hospital

Abstract: Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are the clinical variants of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which are autoimmune diseases characterised by chronic intestinal inflammation with both intestinal and extraintestinal manifestations. CD can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract, while UC affects only the colon and rectum, among other differences. IBD is considered an uncommon disease in sub-Saharan Africa due to a lack of awareness of the disease, deficiencies in clinical and diagnostic capacities, and a possibly high rate of misdiagnosis due to more common alternative infectious gastrointestinal diagnoses. In this study, we present the case of a 35-year-old Kenyan woman with a delayed diagnosis of CD who was managed with oral prednisone and sulfasalazine with a favourable response and has subsequently been in clinical remission on supervised follow-up. We call awareness to the existence of IBD, including CD, in the rural Kenyan communities and the role of diagnostic endoscopy in evaluating chronic or recurrent diarrhoea. Keywords: Crohn’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, Kenya. Title: 5 Years with Recurrent Diarrhoea: A Delayed Diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease in a Kenyan Hospital Author: Onyango C. Vonwicks, Auma Nicholas, Makokha H. Kenneth, Fryda C. William International Journal of Novel Research in Healthcare and Nursing ISSN 2394-7330 Vol. 12, Issue 1, January 2025 - April 2025 Page No: 197-201 Novelty Journals Website: www.noveltyjournals.com Published Date: 23-April-2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15266961 Paper Download Link (Source) https://www.noveltyjournals.com/upload/paper/5%20Years%20with%20Recurrent%20Diarrhoea-23042025-1.pdf