{"id":137083,"date":"2025-09-06T12:48:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T12:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/137083\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T12:48:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T12:48:08","slug":"malnourished-gaza-girl-with-rare-genetic-disease-recovers-in-italian-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/137083\/","title":{"rendered":"Malnourished Gaza girl with rare genetic disease recovers in Italian hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since arriving emaciated in Italy from Gaza<\/a>, little Shamm Qudeih has celebrated her second birthday and gained weight on a new diet that includes a special porridge \u2013 progress welcomed by doctors treating her for severe malnutrition<\/a> worsened by a genetic metabolic disease.<\/p>\n

Just weeks ago, the toddler was all skin and bones as she clung to her mother in a hospital in southern Gaza, after months of being unable to get the food and treatment she needed because of an Israeli blockade aimed at pressuring the Hamas militant group to release hostages. Then she was evacuated to Italy for medical treatment, along with six Palestinian children.<\/p>\n

A striking photo of Shamm wincing in her mother’s arms, with her hair matted and ribs protruding from her chest, was taken by Associated Press freelance journalist Mariam Dagga<\/a>, just days before the child left Gaza on August 13. It was one of Ms Dagga’s last images. She was among 22 people killed in an August 25 Israeli strike<\/a> on the same hospital in southern Gaza.<\/p>\n

More than half a million people in Gaza, a quarter of the population, are experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger because of the blockade and continuing military operations, the world’s leading authority on hunger crises said last month. Gaza city<\/a>, in the north, is experiencing famine, it said.<\/p>\n

Malnourished from birth<\/p>\n

By this week, Shamm was sitting up, alert in a hospital crib in Naples, her fine blonde hair pulled into a high ponytail. She wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the word \u201ccute\u201d. Her wide eyes gleamed as her older sister and mother called her name from across the room, and she broke into a smile.<\/p>\n

Weighing around 4kg when she arrived in Italy, Shamm was \u201cin a serious and challenging clinical state,\u201d said Dr Daniele de Brasi, a paediatric genetic disease specialist who is treating her at Santobono Pausilipon Children\u2019s Hospital in Naples.<\/p>\n

She now weighs 5.5kg, which is still no more than half of the median weight for a child of her age, Dr de Brasi said.<\/p>\n

The doctor said \u201ca big part\u201d of her undernourishment was due to a genetic metabolic disease called glycogen storage disease, which interferes with the absorption of nutrients, particularly carbohydrates, and can cause muscle weakness and impede growth. The condition is primarily managed through a high-carbohydrate diet.<\/p>\n

So far, \u201cWe are very satisfied with her progress,\u2019\u2019 Dr de Brasi said.<\/p>\n

Shamm suffered from malnutrition from birth, just weeks before the October 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostage. Forty-eight hostages are still in Gaza, around 20 of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefires.<\/p>\n

Israel responded with an offensive that Gaza health officials say has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians in nearly two years of fighting. The Gaza Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants but that around half of those killed were women and children.<\/p>\n

No food or treatment<\/p>\n

The family was forced to move more than a dozen times, and Shamm\u2019s mother, Islam, struggled to get her proper medical care, visiting many hospitals and clinics. Doctors suspected the rare condition but could not test for it, much less treat it properly. They sometimes offered antibiotics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt became worse as a result of the lack of food, treatment and possibilities,” Islam said in an interview with Shamm resting on her shoulder. \u201cWe have been displaced maybe about 15 times, from tent to tent. We walked long distances and, along the way, it was hot, and the sun was hitting us.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a while, doctors administered a special formula, but Shamm would not take it, having lost the habit of drinking milk after supplies in Gaza became scarce.<\/p>\n

The UN warned last month that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at the highest levels since the war began. Nearly 12,000 children under five were found to have acute malnutrition in July \u2013 including more than 2,500 with severe malnutrition, the most dangerous level. The World Health Organisation says the numbers are likely an undercount.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis that Dagga photographed Shamm for the last time on August 9. During the visit, Shamm cried in pain in her hospital bed. Her arms, legs and ribs were skeletal, her belly swollen.<\/p>\n

Islam had gone to school with Ms Dagga, who visited the hospital, and remembered her fondly.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was always coming to the hospital to check on me and Shamm\u201d, right up to the day of their departure for Italy, Islam said. \u201cShe stayed until the last step of the stairs to say goodbye to me.”<\/p>\n

After arriving in Italy, Islam learnt that Ms Dagga had died in an attack that killed four other journalists.<\/p>\n

“I was upset when I heard and knew that she had died,” Islam said.<\/p>\n

Shamm is among 181 Palestinian children being treated in Italy, according to the Italian Foreign Ministry. About one-third of those have arrived since March, when Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas and imposed the two-and-half-month blockade on all imports, including food and medicine.<\/p>\n

500 calories a day<\/p>\n

Israel denies there is starvation in Gaza, despite accounts to the contrary<\/a> from witnesses, UN agencies and experts. It says it allowed enough aid to enter before and after the tightened blockade and has allowed increased supplies in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

In Naples, Shamm now has a feeding tube in her nose to ensure she gets the right mix of nutrients overnight. Doctors aim to remove the tube in about a month. During the day, she is free to eat solid food, including meat and fish. A cornerstone of her diet is the carbohydrate-rich porridge.<\/p>\n

Her current intake is around 500 calories a day, which doctors are gradually increasing.<\/p>\n

“In these cases, growing too fast can cause problems,” Dr de Brasi said.<\/p>\n

Her 10-year-old sister, Judi, was brought to Italy as an accompanying family member, and doctors began treating her after noting that she was at least three or four kilograms underweight, Dr de Brasi said. She has gained 2kg and is in good condition.<\/p>\n

With both daughters improving, Shamm\u2019s mother is allowing herself to experience relief. But it is too soon to think about going back to Gaza, where Shamm’s father is.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow there is no way to go back, as long as the war is going on. There are no possibilities for my daughters,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

The work of photojournalist Mariam Dagga \u2013 in picturesDust and sand storms compared<\/p>\n

Sand storm<\/p>\n

Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
\nVisibility: Often dramatic with thick “walls” of sand
\nDuration: Short-lived, typically localised
\nTravel distance: Limited\u00a0
\nSource: Open desert areas with strong winds<\/p>\n

Dust storm<\/p>\n

Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
\nVisibility: Hazy skies but less intense
\nDuration: Can linger for days
\nTravel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
\nSource: Can be carried from distant regions
\nZayed Sustainability Prize<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since arriving emaciated in Italy from Gaza, little Shamm Qudeih has celebrated her second birthday and gained weight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[85815,5618,200,2184,803,79,615,13546],"class_list":["post-137083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-genetics","tag-foreign-desk-team","tag-gaza","tag-genetics","tag-hunger","tag-israel","tag-science","tag-standard","tag-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}