A four-year-old girl who was fighting for her life after contracting Strep A is said to be getting better.
Camila Rose Burns, from Bolton, was rushed to Alder Hey Children's Hospital after contracting the bacterial infection. She was placed on a ventilator and was fighting for her life.
Step A has killed 15 children under the age of 15 in the UK. The bacteria usually causes a mild infection producing sore throats or scarlet fever that can easily be treated with antibiotics. In rare cases it can cause serious illness - known as Invasive group A strep (iGAS).
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Last week, Camila's dad Dean Burns, said he and his family have been "living in an absolute nightmare" since her condition worsened. Dean said his daughter’s condition got worse over last weekend and Camila went from dancing on Friday night with her friends to feeling “a little bit under the weather on Saturday” and needing emergency care on Monday.
Yesterday, the Mirror reported that Camila had come off the ventilator. Today, nan Dawn Burns told the BBC that Camila was getting better.
She told Radio 4's Today programme: "She gradually came off the different meds... when we first got there the consultant said she was the illest child in the UK and she was as close to death as you could be without actually dying - that's what he said to us.
"She was on absolutely tons of support meds, ventilator, dialysis et cetera. But slowly and surely, she managed to pull it round."
Also speaking on the programme, Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said he is not aware of any “national shortage” in antibiotics to treat Strep A. He said: “I can’t tell you about supply chain issues but my understanding is that overall we do have plenty of antibiotics.
“Of course, you could have a local situation where there’s a shortage, but I’m not aware of any national shortage, particularly given that this bug is treatable with one of our oldest antibiotics, penicillin, and it’s always sensitive to penicillin, so it should be perfectly treatable when it’s recognised.”
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