Strep A: Father says bus has 'devastated' his four-year-old daughter's body trends now
The bereft father of a four-year-old girl struck down with Strep A today revealed she is still fighting for her life a week later with her tiny body 'devastated' by the bacterial infection.
Camila Rose Burns, from Bolton, remains on a ventilator in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool as families across the the country mourn the deaths of seven children from the bug that causes tonsillitis and scarlet fever.
Camila's father Dean Burns has not left her side since she was rushed to hospital last Sunday - 24 hours after she was sent away from A&E with an inhaler when doctors put her chest pains down to retching from repeatedly vomiting.
Speaking this morning from Alder Hey, to warn other parents to be vigilant, he said: 'She is still fighting for her life. It has devastated her body'.
Mr Burns added: 'We cannot believe it has happened. The pain is unimaginable. She is so beautiful, so precious and just our special little girl. We just want out family back'.
He spoke out as a seventh child died from the winter bug - as parents were told to be to be extra vigilant if their children fall ill and GPs will lower the threshold for giving out antibiotics or sending poorly kids to hospital.
But there are warnings that there is a shortage of amoxicillin - the antibiotic used to treat Strep A - with some pharmacies said to be running out due to supply chain issues.
Camila Rose, four, has been on a ventilator in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool since last Sunday. She was initially sent home with an inhaler a week earlier
Health chiefs issued an 'urgent public health message' to GPs after a 12-year-old boy attending a school in London became the latest victim.
The warning from the UK Health Security Agency has urged doctors to set a 'low threshold' for sending children with symptoms to hospital and giving them antibiotics.
It has been issued to all doctors, urgent care centres, A&Es and paediatric and infectious disease services, The Times reports.
There have been 2.3 cases of Strep A per 100,000 children aged between one and four so far this year - more than quadruple the average of 0.5 each season before the pandemic.
The urgent health
