Tragic boy, 3, died after scratching chicken pox
Bacterial infection caused sepsis
THE mum of a boy killed by sepsis was told he may have caught it from scratching a chicken pox spot.
Tragic Bryan-Andrew Lock, three, had complained of a sore neck the night before he died in his sleep but there were no other warning signs. The youngster was staying at his nan’s house as he had suspected mumps and mum Jasmine Shortland did not want him to infect her other three children. She was initially told her son suffered sudden infant death syndrome. But tests later showed he had the rare streptococcus A, septicaemia. Jasmine said: “I was shocked. Apparently he must have scratched one of his chicken pox spots and that’s how the infection got in. “The night before he was running around. He was laughing and joking. It just doesn’t make sense.” Jasmine’s mum found Bryan-Andrew cold in bed the next morning and she could not wake him. Paramedics arrived and tried but failed to revive the boy, who had chicken pox in May last year. Jasmine, of Yeovil, Somerset, added: “My stepdad came to my house and told me Bryan-Andrew had died. I ran to my mum’s house. I spoke to him on the phone the night before he died and he told me he loved me and I said, ‘I’ll see you soon and give you cuddles.’ I’ve never heard of Strep A. The doctor said it is so rare. “There were no symptoms. His body was so small he couldn’t fight it and it turned into sepsis.” Jasmine has now warned other parents to be vigilant after the death of her son in August last year. She said: “I think it is important to know what can happen when you least expect it. It still hasn’t sunk in. “The only comfort I have got is that he was asleep and he wasn’t in pain.”