An Irish mum has spoken about her daughter's mystery childhood hepatitis diagnosis earlier this year.
Lisa Byrne from Rathdrum in Wicklow is a mother of four and recently had a nightmare experience with the strange illness. Her daughter Zoe, aged five, was admitted to Tallaght hospital on May 4, 2022 after vomiting for five days in a row, in the mornings and evenings. Zoe also had a high temperature and was very lethargic.
In Ireland, 21 probable cases of children with hepatitis of unknown cause have been identified in Ireland since March and a small number of children are under investigation. Two children have received a liver transplant and there has been one death associated with this disease, according to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HSPC).
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After visiting the doctor she was sent to Tallaght due to dehydration from suspected gastritis. “In fairness, at the time, there wasn’t that much information about the adenovirus,” she told the Irish Mirror.
On June 12, Byrne came home and saw that Zoe’s eyes were yellow. Byrne contacted her older sister whose friend is a nurse and sent a photo of Zoe’s eyes. She was told to bring Zoe to a hospital because it looked like jaundice which is a sign of liver issues.
“To be honest, I don’t remember that night that much,” she said. The signs of jaundice spread all over Zoe’s body including her scalp.
Byrne described sitting in a “packed” emergency room in Tallaght hospital for less than five minutes before Zoe was taken to a ward. A doctor came in the next morning and explained that Zoe would have to be transferred to Crumlin due to the presumed issues with her liver.
Byrne couldn’t thank the staff at Crumlin enough, “Crumlin were amazing, even to me, to the very last day. There were tears in our eyes because we went through so much together,” she said.
Zoe was in Crumlin from June 13 to 19, with her blood needing constant monitoring. She was admitted to ICU on the 18th and had to be transferred to the UK the following day.
“She was so bloated and she was hooked up to every sort of machine you can think of,” Byrne said. Zoe and her mother flew to London with the army air corps.
“They were brilliant as well, I really couldn’t recommend any of the staff enough, anywhere I met them, they were just amazing people and it wasn’t just for Zoe but for me mentally too. Every single thing got explained to me, as much as they knew is as much as they told me. They didn’t leave anything out,” she said.
They flew to an RAF base and Zoe immediately went to King’s hospital in London in an ambulance. “There wasn’t enough room for me in the ambulance so I had to go in a taxi. It was like an hour and 40 minutes. That was the longest hour and 40 minutes of my life, I was praying to god, praying to everyone and I’m not even holy,” she said before adding, “she was so scared, she’s such a mammy’s girl, she’d be attached to me,” she laughed.
Byrne described King’s hospital as “massive.”
“Even trying to find her ward, I was running around the place like a maniac, crying.” Zoe was in the Rays of Sunshine ward, a ward for children with liver disease.
“She was sleeping for 22 hours a day and then screaming for the other two hours. She wouldn’t let anyone touch her or examine her and Zoe’s not like that, Zoe’s such a happy-go-lucky girl, she would do anything for a bit of craic,” she said.
On the fourth day in King’s Hospital, Byrne said that Zoe’s condition majorly deteriorated. “She was looking at me and saying ‘can you get my mammy?’” When she told her that she was her mother, Zoe was distressed and told Byrne to “stop pretending.”
“Adenovirus has always been around, it’s just a normal viral infection but there’s a new strain of it and they don’t understand where it’s come from or why certain kids are getting it and why it’s affecting them so badly,” Byrne explained.
She said that Zoe had no idea what was going on and that she slept for 31 hours without waking up, even during multiple tests. Doctors were worried about her slipping into a coma. Things picked up after what Byrne describes as Zoe’s “worst day.”
She recalls one Irish nurse, in particular, Fiona, that will always have a special place in her heart. “Zoe had Frozen on loop on the DVD player, even if she was asleep it had to be on for fear she would wake up without it.”
Byrne came back from a break and was shocked to see Zoe sitting up in the bed. Fiona told her that she was singing a Frozen song and Zoe said 'can you please stop singing because you’re not very good,' she recalled, laughing.
Once they got back to Crumlin Hospital, Zoe was making a recovery faster than would be expected and, on July 3, Byrne was given the good news that Zoe could return home to Wicklow. Zoe still has a cannula in her arm and has to go for weekly check-ups in Crumlin.
Byrne says the support she got from her place of work and the local community in Rathdrum, Wicklow was amazing. Zoe at random, will say to her mother, “wasn’t I so strong in the UK?”
Zoe’s test results have gone abroad to compare different stats in relation to the mysterious strain of hepatitis. She says the main signs that made her question Zoe’s initial diagnosis were vomiting in the morning and night, no appetite, her skin changing colour as well as very dark urine and pale stools.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre is urging parents to be aware of the signs and symptoms.
Signs and symptoms to look out for
Parents are advised to go to their GP if their child develops symptoms of hepatitis. Symptoms of hepatitis can include:
- pale, grey-coloured poo (stools)
- dark urine
- yellowing of the eyes and skin (jaundice)
If their child has any of these three symptoms, they should contact their GP without delay. The GP will assess the child and refer on for further assessment as indicated.
Other symptoms include:
- muscle and joint pain
- a high temperature
- feeling and being sick
- feeling unusually tired all the time
- a general sense of feeling unwell
- loss of appetite
- tummy pain
- itchy skin
Parents are advised to go to their GP if their child develops symptoms of hepatitis. The GP will assess the child and refer on for further assessment as indicated.
If your child is unwell with respiratory or diarrheal or hepatitis symptoms keep your child at home and do not send to crèche/preschool/school until they are better.
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