Boy, 3, died from sepsis he caught scratching chickenpox
A MOTHER told her three-yearold son had died of cot death was stunned when doctors later revealed he had contracted sepsis scratching his chickenpox.
After telling his mother Jasmine Shortland ‘goodnight, I love you’, Bryan-Andrew Lock died in his sleep staying at his grandmother’s house.
The 23-year-old barmaid was originally informed her son died in August last year from sudden infant death syndrome.
But a post-mortem examination has since concluded Bryan- Andrew contracted a rare form of the streptococcus A blood poisoning infection. The otherwise healthy toddler had suffered chickenpox several months before his death and doctors believe the infection entered his bloodstream when he scratched his scabs.
Miss Shortland is now warning parents to be alert to the danwhen gers of sepsis – known as the silent killer – as symptoms develop so quickly.
As well as his chickenpox, Bryan-Andrew had complained of a stiff neck.
After noticing his face and neck were swollen, Miss Shortland thought he had mumps and put him to bed at his grandparents’ to avoid infecting his four-month-old brother Ivan.
Bryan-Andrew’s grandmother found him dead the next day.
Miss Shortland, from Yeovil, Somerset, said: ‘How can a
‘His body was too small to fight it’
three-year-old boy catch something that’s so rare? My mind is just boggled by it.
‘Apparently he must have scratched one of his chickenpox and that’s how the infection got in. It’s so rare. I’m trying to raise awareness to other mums.’
Chickenpox is common in children and usually gets better by itself but mother- of-four Miss Shortland wants parents to be vigilant to the risk of infection.
Sepsis, which kills 44,000 Britons a year, is treatable with antibiotics and fluids, but these must be given very early on to prevent serious complications.
She said: ‘I think it is important to know what can happen
were no you symptoms,least expect becauseit. There it was so rare.
‘His body was so small he couldn’t fight it and it turned into sepsis. The doctor said even if we took him to the hospital and gave him antibiotics, it wouldn’t have helped him.
‘He should be starting school this year. It is the milestones that kill me the most.’
Following the Daily Mail’s End the Sepsis Scandal campaign, the NHS issued new guidelines in March saying patients showing signs of the illness must be seen quickly by a senior doctor.
The campaign was triggered by the sepsis death of 12-monthold William Mead when inexperienced call handlers at NHS 111 failed to realise he needed urgent help.
The new rules mean patients must be checked, given antibiotics and put on intravenous fluids within 60 minutes of arriving at hospital.