A Scots school girl who caught Strep A was left fighting for her life in hospital after her GP failed to spot the symptoms - twice. Ellie Young began experiencing a sore throat and vomiting at the end of October and was given a telephone consultation by her local doctor's surgery Oak Lodge Medical Practice.
The six-year-old’s mum was told her daughter had a viral infection which would clear up on its own but on November 3, the youngster's temperature spiked to 40.3 degrees. She was hallucinating, vomiting blood and had developed a rash around her mouth but was sent home from an emergency GP visit with a gastroenteritis diagnosis and Dioralyte.
The p2 pupil continued to deteriorate with mum Emma Clark calling NHS 24 four days later. She was rushed to Wishaw General Hospital by ambulance where medics discovered she had developed sepsis from the bacteria as well as having the Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Little Ellie, who has developed juvenile arthritis as a result of the infection, spent five days hooked up to an IV drip of antibiotics before being allowed home to Hamilton. Mum Emma, 26, has spoken out in a bid to raise awareness of the symptoms associated with Strep A and believes her daughter’s condition would never have gotten so bad if the GP surgery had caught it earlier.
She said: “If it was caught at the first appointment and they had actually done a strep swab it wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near as bad. It wouldn’t have turned into sepsis. Because of the misdiagnosis, Ellie is now left with juvenile arthritis in her elbow which was caused by the infection.
“This is what happens when strep is left for too long. But we are blessed and very lucky that she’s still here with us. Ellie has been such a wee trooper though and she’s taken it all in her stride. The doctors and nurses in ward 19 at Wishaw General, who did the strep test, were absolutely amazing. They saved her life.”
Emma told how the rest of their family had to complete a course of antibiotics as a precaution in case they too had picked up the nasty bacteria with contact tracing carried out by NHS Lanarkshire. Mum-of-two Emma told how she knew something was seriously wrong with her daughter, who looked like “death warmed up”, despite being fobbed off twice.
She explained: “She went from being really hyper to being completely drained. I’ve never seen her look so bad in her whole six years. I called the doctors at the very end of October and they gave us a phone consultation even though she was really not well.
“At that point her symptoms were a sore throat and she was being sick constantly. They told us it was a viral infection without even seeing her. On the 3rd of November, we managed to get an emergency in-person appointment but they told us that she had gastroenteritis at that point.
“Her temperature was sitting at 40.1 and it went up to 40.3 even though she had had Calpol. She had a rash beside her mouth, a really sore throat and her vomiting had gotten so bad that she was throwing up blood. She was chalk white and she looked like death warmed up.
“She was hallucinating at this point as well but we were sent home with Dioralyte that day. It was like the doctors just weren’t listening. On the 7th of November, she started to get ten times worse.
“Joint pain had kicked in in her elbow and her ankle. She couldn’t move her right arm at all. We weren’t sure what was causing that but we thought it was maybe because she’d been in bed for so long. I decided to call out of hours at 8pm.
“We were given an appointment at 1.30am on the 8th. We took her to her appointment but they didn’t know what was wrong with her. Her temperature kept rising and her blood pressure was sky high. They told us to go straight up to the Wishaw General.
“We were in the hospital for five days and it was the hardest five days of my life. I cried the entire time we were there. I was trying to stay strong for Ellie because she was scared.
“They were coming in and there were constant needles and she was on an IV antibiotic and IV fluid because she was so dehydrated from the sickness. She was off school for six weeks, she only went back on Monday.
“Now I’m scared because she could catch it again. Her immune system is already compromised.”
Symptoms of Strep A include a sore throat, headache, fever, nausea and vomiting followed by a fine red rash which spreads quickly.
The more serious symptoms are high fever, severe muscle aches and muscle pain, swelling or redness near a wound and unexplained diarrhoea or vomiting.
Public Health Scotland have confirmed that from the beginning of October to December 5, 13 positive cases in children under 10 have been reported.
A spokesperson for Oak Lodge Medical Practice, said: “Due to the duty of confidentiality placed on the practice by the General Medical Council, Oak Lodge Medical Practice decline to make any comment on an individual patient and their treatment.
“However, we always take complaints seriously and would be happy to discuss matters with the family directly if they wish to contact the practice manager.”
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