Dr Hilary lists 'red flag symptoms' of Strep A
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Strep A, or Group A Streptococcus, describes a bacteria that targets the throat and nose. While invasive Strep A infections are rare, there has been an increase in severe cases this year. A mum has shared the harrowing experience of identifying Strep A in her six-year-old daughter to help other parents recognise the symptoms in their own children.
While a sore throat and fever can be Strep A warning signs, Nancie Rae Dolphin, 6, first experienced itching.
Her mum, Kadie Dolphin, 37, noticed that something was wrong with her daughter on the evening of November 7.
Her daughter had come downstairs at 6pm complaining of an itchy belly. When Kadie looked, she noticed there was a small mark resembling a mosquito bite on her tummy and her knee.
She gave her daughter an antihistamine and thought nothing more of it, until Nancie Rae came downstairs the following morning with a high temperature and a rash.
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Kadie said: “On November 7, my daughter finished school happy and healthy – she’s a livewire anyway, she’s crazy.
“About 6pm she came downstairs and said, ‘Mummy my belly is itching’, it looked like she had a little bite.
“Because she’d been out playing, I assumed she had been bit by a mosquito and had a reaction.
“I gave her an antihistamine but the next morning the rash was all over her belly – it was a weird, flat rash and she was very hot to touch.”
Kadie tried to get a GP appointment but there were none available until 6pm that day. By 9.30am, Nancie Rae’s hand had begun to swell up.
Kadie didn’t want to wait and took her daughter to Halton Urgent Care Centre.
The mum said: “I went to Halton Urgent Care and said, ‘I thought it was a reaction’ so one doctor gave her a Piriton [antihistamine] but another doctor said it wasn’t typical for an allergic reaction.
“She was swelling up before our eyes – a couple more fingers were swollen up, her lymph nodes were swollen, there were lumps in her throat and her legs were hurting.
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“We went to Warrington Hospital and they started her on Amoxycillin [penicillin antibiotic], they had to take 11 vials of blood from her.
“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.”
The swab confirmed the bacterial infection. She was given penicillin via an IV drip but the high concentration of the antibiotic left the youngster with a burning sensation in her arms.
Nancie Rae was unable to walk or talk, and Kadie said she was “screaming” as she was in so much pain.
Thankfully, the girl’s condition began to improve after 48 hours, as the swelling reduced and she was sent home with antibiotics.
While she was left with some lasting effects, including damage to her kidneys and a secondary infection, she recovered at home and Kadie said she is back to her “normal crazy mental self”.
The mum added: “The doctors said that it being caught early was the reason she got well so quickly.
“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 NHS urges looking out for Strep A symptoms, including:
- Flu-like symptoms, such as a high temperature, swollen glands or an aching body
- Sore throat (strep throat or tonsillitis)
- Rash that feels rough, like sandpaper (scarlet fever)
- Scabs and sores (impetigo)
- Pain and swelling (cellulitis)
- Severe muscle aches
- Nausea and vomiting.
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