Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) was and always is the reason why 5-year-old Paul must be diligently rehabilitated

We would like to introduce you to Pauli, a friendly boy whom you can ADELI Medical Center for the fourth time at ADELI Medical Center . Pauli suffered from streptococcal meningoencephalitis and early sepsis in the neonatal phase. It was precisely this brain inflammation that was and still is the reason why 5-year-old Paul needs to undergo intensive rehabilitation. The experience could be of interest to some...

• On his first trip to the ADELI Medical Center for rehabilitation, he ADELI Medical Center alone for a short time.
• 14 days after the stay begins to crawl.
• His saliva production is under control😊
• He started running at BabyMed .
• He learned sign language in speech therapy.

Paul was born in Upper Austria, one month premature on a beautiful Sunday. Because of this, his mother did not have a swab to detect streptococci, and so the baby became infected with these bacteria in the birth canal. Due to rising fever and several seizures, a spinal tap was done and then it was clear that he had contracted strep. Treatment started 3 days after birth. It is precisely this time factor that plays a key role in brain infections. Within three days, an infection in the brain (without medication) develops into a life-threatening condition. What should be kept in mind is that this is not a rare infection! 20% of women have type B streptococci without noticeable manifestations.

Paul's illness, however, developed into a severe form. After a month in intensive care, the little fighter had survived the ordeal and brain damage was not foreseen. Even during regular checks on his development, doctors found no problem. However, his mother herself noticed: at the age of 9 months, he was only lying on his stomach and could not turn around other than rolling onto his back - this is a very strong signal that his motor development is not going as it should.

Well, and then it started:

At one year old, Pauli came to ADELI Medical Center to undergo a two-week early childhood therapeutic intervention in the BabyMed. He underwent almost 40 therapy sessions and was already sitting independently on the train ride home. In the 14 days following his stay, Pauli began to lift himself up and climb on all four limbs.

During subsequent stays at BabyMed , they gradually got him up on his feet and, more importantly, he also learned to fall. In the meantime, the doctors also diagnosed hemiparesis with damage to the control of the left part of his body.

However, after the diagnosis, they were unable to offer any specific rehabilitation measures in Austria. So they moved on to ADELI Medical Center: wearing the ADELI suit, his left hand was warmed up, so that Pauli is now a great helper to his mom in the kitchen. The clinical speech therapy must also be mentioned here: Pauli immediately understood what it was all about and began to use sign language. After just one week of rehabilitation, his saliva decreased and instead of 7 bibs a day, 2 were now enough😊. Clinical speech therapists taught Paul and his mother lip and tongue exercises to expand his communication skills. Without ADELI, says his mother, Pauli would be unable to develop further. The next big goal is to teach Pauli how to breathe properly.

We keep our fingers crossed for Pauli and his family and wish them the best for the future.