Mother warns parents about her daughter’s ‘sunburn-like’ strep A symptoms that baffled doctors
Mother warns parents about her daughter’s ‘sunburn-like’ strep A symptoms that baffled doctors
Mother, 33, warns fellow parents about her six-year-old daughter’s ‘sunburn-like’ strep A symptoms that baffled doctors for weeks before she was finally diagnosed with the infection that has killed at least 30 children
- Sadie Larmonth says daughter Khloe, 6, looks ‘sunburnt’ after contracting Strep A
- Her unusual symptoms puzzled the doctors and she was not diagnosed for 3 weeks
- Khloe, from Irvine, Scotland, had a bright red and itchy rash from head to toe
A Scottish mother revealed her six-year-old daughter looked ‘sunburnt’ and developed a ‘head-to-toe rash’ as an unusual symptom after contracting strep A.
Sadie Learmonth said her daughter Khloe was struck down by the potentially fatal illness in September – and doctors were unable to diagnose her for weeks.
The 33-year-old from Irvine, North Ayrshire warned parents as she shared details about her daughter Strep A symptoms – as the number of cases of the disease rises in Scotland.
Ms Learmonth first noticed a lump on Khloe’s neck before she later developed a sore throat and her skin became bright red, itchy and scaly.
Six-year-old Khloe, from Irvine, North Ayrshire, looked ‘sunburnt’ after contracting Strep A
Sadie Learmonth (left), 33, said her daughter Khloe (right) was stricken with the potentially fatal disease in September – and doctors were unable to diagnose her for weeks
After contracting Strep A, Khloe developed a red ‘head-to-toe rash’ (left). Three months on, Khloe is on the mend, but still struggling with stubborn red spots on her feet that have yet to go away.
The worried mother says she took Khloe to her GP three times in three weeks, but doctors failed to identify her symptoms as strep A, leaving the girl feeling ‘ugly and paranoid’ about the state of her body.
Ms Learmonth said: ‘Khloe was very upset and upset about her skin. She wouldn’t hug me, her dad, or her one-year-old brother in case she passed the condition on. She kept saying she was ugly and was paranoid about people staring at her rash.
‘I cried constantly because the doctors didn’t know what was wrong with her.’
Mrs Learmonth said doctors first thought Khloe’s symptoms were a common cold, before saying it could be impetigo – a contagious skin infection that often starts with sores or blisters on the skin.
But after the girl didn’t improve with the antibiotics she was prescribed, a third trip to the GP led to a diagnosis of scarlet fever – a condition caused by a streptococcal A infection.
Three months in, Khloe is on the mend, but still struggling with stubborn red spots on her feet that have yet to go away.
Ms Learmonth first noticed a lump on Khloe’s neck before she later developed a sore throat and her skin became bright red, itchy and scaly
A painful red rash caused by Streptococcus A on Khloe’s arm
Ms Learmonth now says she is grateful that the burnt appearance of Khloe’s skin provided a ‘physical’ symptom of the infection that she could see and seek help.
She explained that her daughter had otherwise shown very few signs of contracting the disease, which the mother now knows can be life-threatening following the deaths of a number of children in the UK.
Mrs Learmonth added: ‘If it hadn’t been for that physical symptom I wouldn’t have noticed anything was wrong with her and I would have asked other parents to look out for those signs.
Vicki Campbell, Head of Primary and Emergency Care, said: ‘NHS Ayrshire & Arran cannot comment on individual cases due to the confidentiality of patient information. We encourage anyone who has any concerns about the care or treatment provided to contact us directly. This allows us to investigate and provide feedback.’
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