Erythropoietic (Congenital) Porphyria in a Bantu Girl

Abstract

The case here presented is of congenital porphyria occurring in a three-year-old Bantu girl of the Bapedi tribe. This is the second case of this rare type of porphyria recorded in the Bantu of Southern Africa. The patient was admitted to the Jane Furse Memorial Hospital from a district clinic on 6th December, 1955, with a provisional diagnosis of scurvy. The history was that she had had measles a few weeks previously, and two weeks before admission developed weakness and tenderness of the legs and could not walk.