The symptoms described in this case such as headaches, skin irritation, painful cramps and seizures are all common in a disease known as Ergotism. Ergotism is caused by the ingestion of alkaloids (ergotamines) produced by the fungus Claviceps purpurea (C. purpurea), which mainly infects the cereal Secale (rye) and other cereals. This results in ergot poisoning (Alderman et al., 1999). All Claviceps species are given the general term ergot, and most Claviceps species are limited to one or more grass genera. The exception is common ergot caused by C. purpurea, which contains a host range of over 200 grass species (Alderman et al., 1999). C. purpurea, unlike other Claviceps species, is distributed worldwide and can survive in climates with different temperatures (including colder places such as southern England), further suggesting that it is the most likely causal agent. Ergotism can be divided into two groups of symptoms, convulsive and gangrenous. Convulsive ergotism is usually characterized by nerve dysfunction such as torticollis, which was previously reported as seizures. The fact that many people died of gangrene clearly suggests that the ergotism suffered was not of the convulsive type, since no symptoms of gangrene were present. Gangrene develops when the blood supply to the affected part (ischemia) is interrupted due to an infection, trauma or vascular disease; the most common sites are the fingers, toes, and hands. This further suggests that the condition is gangrenous ergotism, this can be supported by the patient's physical examination and blood tests. A CT scan or MRI can help find out how much gas is present and the extent of tissue damage, however these tests were obviously n…half the paper…millions of these occurring in younger children at 5 years (Epidemiological Record, 2007). In patients from developing countries such as Cameroon, invasive pneumococcal pneumonia has a high mortality rate (WHOInt, 2003). In terms of treatment and prophylaxis, appropriate antibiotics can help treat S. pneumoniae infections via outpatient treatment. Prior to antibiotic therapy, steroids may be given to infants older than 6 weeks with possible pneumococcal meningitis and should be given before or at the same time as the first dose of antibiotics (Pickering et al, 2009). The use of penicillin, ceftriaxone or ampicillin sulbactam is usually appropriate with hospitalized children, therapy should take into account local resistance patterns. Immunocompromised children with suspected pneumococcal pneumonia should receive vancomycin and a broad-spectrum cephalosporin.