Nancie Rae Dolphin (Picture: Kadie Dolphin / SWNS)
A mum who watched her daughter fall ill to an infection caused by Strep A has shared some of the warning signs.
Several children have died in recent weeks of infections caused by the bacteria otherwise called Group A streptococcus.
While Strep A usually causes mild illnesses at best like strep throat and scarlet fever, it can cause more serious complications.
Kadie Dolphin, 37, first noticed her daughter Nancie, six, started showing symptoms on November 8 – hours later, Nancie was in hospital.
Nancie was suffering from severe swelling, her body was covered in red patches and she was unable to walk.
The mum-of-five says her daughter is now on the mend but has opened up about the wrenching experience to warn other parents and guardians.
She was in hospital after a small bump became a rash in only 12 hours (Picture: Kadie Dolphin / SWNS)
It all started with an itchy, mosquito bite-sized mark on Nancie’s tummy and knee that Kadie initially shrugged off at around 6pm.
She had come back from school earlier that day ‘happy and healthy’.
The healthcare assistant from Warrington, Cheshire, said: ‘She’s a livewire anyway, she’s crazy.’
But 12 hours later, Nancie was suffering a high temperature and a rash from where the marks were.
With no GP appointments available until 6pm, Kadie brought her daughter to Halton Urgent Care centre as her hands began swelling.
Doctors initially believe Nancie was experiencing an allergic reaction, though when her hands and lymph nodes began to balloon as well, she was moved to Warrington Hospital.
Kadie said: ‘They started her on Amoxycillin, they had to take 11 vials of blood from her.
What Strep A smpytoms should parents and guardians look out for?
According to the NHS, the main symptoms of a Strep A infection include:
Flu-like symptoms such as a high temperature, swollen glands, or an aching body
Sore throat
A rash that feels rough, like sandpaper
Scabs and sores
Pain and swelling
Severe muscle aches
Nausea and vomiting
‘She had lost the ability to walk, every joint was swollen up, she was completely red and still had a high temperature – that was when they took a throat swab for Strep A.
‘Throughout the night the medicine wouldn’t kick in and they kept coming back saying she’s not getting better – she was kind of awake but she was very floppy and couldn’t hold herself up.’
Doctors put Nancie on a high dose of penicillin through an IV drip that left Nancie with a burning sensation in her arms.
‘The doctors said that it being caught early was reason she got well so quickly,’ she said, adding that Nancie showed signs of recovery in 48 hours.
‘I was absolutely petrified to be honest – at the point where she started to turn really bad, we didn’t know what it was and it felt like it took forever to find out what was wrong.
‘The doctor was saying that the swelling was coming up before her eyes, [Nancie Rae] was swelling right before us, the doctor said we really are concerned and it was then that I thought, “oh god”.
‘The worrying thing is that I didn’t know what was going on – I was looking at her thinking, “am I going to walk out without my daughter”.’
The high-spirited girl is doing just fine now (Picture: Kadie Dolphin / SWNS)
Nancie was perfectly fine when she came back from school (Picture: Kadie Dolphin / SWNS)
Nancie is doing just fine now but has been left with a damaged kidney and a secondary infection.
The UK Health Security Agency has confirmed at least 19 children in the UK have died due to complications caused by Strep A since September.
It came just hours after the Department of Health and Social Care said there is a ‘serious shortage’ of three penicillin treatments needed for Strep A.
Strep A is spread through close contact as well as coughs, needed or by contact with a wound, the NHS says.
Some people carrying the bacteria don’t show any symptoms at all.
These include a sore throat, fever, headache, muscle aches and a blotchy rash.
Health officials and experts still aren’t sure why Strep A cases are on the rise, though warn the total cases for this year are lower than previous highs.
Kadie added: ‘For a six-year-old, she’s quite tiny anyway and this infection has ravished her body but she’s back to her normal crazy mental self.’
‘All we keep hearing about is the children passing but that’s not all it is,’ she added, ‘she’s home and fine now, as awful as it was, we need to build immunity.’
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‘I was looking at her thinking, “am I going to walk out without my daughter”.’
