The father of a four-year-old girl on a ventilator with Strep A has said the infection is "the worst thing that can happen to anyone".
Camila Rose Burns was well and spent last Friday playing and dancing with friends before being struck down over the weekend and ended up fighting for her life by Monday.
The little girl is receiving treatment at Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital where doctors told her desperate family she is currently the "poorliest girl in the whole of England".
It comes after six children have died from the infection this winter as the bug sweeps the UK.
Her father, Dean Burns, said his daughter got suddenly and "progressively more ill", saying she is still "nowhere near out of the woods".
Dean said: "She's still nowhere near out of the woods, she's really, really poorly. When we got here Monday, they said she's the poorliest girl in the whole of England.
"To go from dancing on Friday night with her friends, to a little bit under the weather on Saturday and then a bit more bad on Sunday, she's basically not the same girl any more. It's heartbreaking."
Speaking to Sky News, Dean added: "When we got here Monday, they said she's the poorliest girl in the whole of England."
He described how initially Camila "didn't look too bad", which gave him some hope, but within a short period of time, she "completely changed".
He added: "She was restless. We shouted some nurses down, and we had to leave the room, they put her to sleep, and she's been on a ventilator ever since, keeping her alive,' he added.
"It's the worst thing that can ever happen to anybody."
The dad, from Bolton, said there was a sickness bug going around Camila's school, so over the weekend kept an eye on her. Camila then said that her chest was hurting.
Dean said they took his daughter to hospital on Saturday and doctors prescribed her with an inhaler and they went home. However, her health deteriorated on Sunday and she was rushed to A&E. Camila is being treated in Alder Hey and currently "fighting for her life".
Today, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed a person in Knowsley has contracted the invasive infection. The diagnosis comes as six children have died after contracting the illness, known by its full name as Group A streptococcus.
The UKHSA revealed the case in Knowsley in its latest weekly notification of infectious diseases (Noid) report. This is a list of illnesses that have to be reported to local authorities once they are diagnosed by medics.
According to the UKHSA’s latest Noid report, eight people have so far been diagnosed with Strep A, while another nine have been diagnosed with an unspecified Streptococcal infection.
In the last week Muhammad Ibrahim Ali, four, from High Wycombe, Hanna Roap, seven, from Penarth, Wales, a six-year-old child from Ashford in Surrey and a primary-school aged child from north Ealing, London have all died with Strep A infection.
Two other English children under 10, whose names, ages and locations have not been made public, also died within seven days of being diagnosed, although the dates of their deaths are currently unknown.
Strep A is a bacterial infection sometimes found in the throat or skin. Many people carry it without developing any symptoms, but they can still spread it to others who might become ill through close contact and from coughs and sneezes.
In most cases, symptoms are mild such as a sore throat or a skin infection that can be easily treated with antibiotics. However, it can cause a range of different illnesses including serious diseases like scarlet fever.
In extremely rare cases it can cause invasive group A streptococcal infection or iGAS. This happens when bacteria get past the body's natural defences. Warning signs include fever and severe muscle aches.
The UKHSA warned anyone displaying symptoms to seek medical help. It added: "Anyone with high fever, severe muscle aches, pain in one area of the body, and unexplained vomiting or diarrhoea should call NHS 111 and seek medical help immediately."
Symptoms of Strep A to look out for
The symptoms of group A streptococcal infection depend on where the infection develops in the body. Listed below are symptoms and signs of different types of group A streptococcal infection:
- Strep throat symptoms may include a sore throat and tonsils, pain when swallowing, fever, muscle aches and pains, and tiredness.
- Scarlet fever symptoms include a very red, sore throat, swollen glands and fever. Around 12 to 48 hours after infection, red blotches can appear on the skin, usually on the face, neck, underarms or groin. Red bumps can also form on the tongue, sometimes called a ‘strawberry tongue’.
- Impetigo causes sores on the skin that tend to form blisters. These blisters can burst and leave a moist area with a yellow brown crust at the edge.
- Cellulitis involves an area of skin becoming red and inflamed, painful and swollen, while the skin will often feel tight and warmer to the touch than the surrounding skin.
- Necrotising fasciitis is a serious skin infection that can cause deep, painful skin sores as well as fever, diarrhoea or vomiting, septic shock and organ failure.
