Menningitis

I, Brian · 06-13-2005, 10:07 PM

Baby Maya, 15 months old, has been whinging and whining for a few days and off her food - seemed like teething. However, tonight Julie suddenly found Maya is covered with a rash. Very fast and covering her body. She was worried it could be menningitis.

There's a glass test for menningitis - you hold a glass to the rash, and if it disappears easily, then everything should be fine. Didn't seem to disappear, which could be bad.

So I rang NHS Direct/24 and after about 20 mins of questions the nurse decided we should call an emergency ambulance in case.

Anyway, Julie's gone off with Maya in the ambulance.

Even though I'm telling myself it can't be anything too serious - Maya seemed otherwise fine enough, no vomiting or unconsciousness - I still feel pretty shocked and sickly.

An odd surreal situation to be in.

I, Brian · 06-13-2005, 10:26 PM

Just had a call from Julie at the hospital - apparently Maya is fine and diagnosed as having some kind of "freak allergy".

Something of a relief, but still very disturbing.

Alexa · 06-14-2005, 01:26 AM

Not a very easy week-end for your family. What kind of allergy ? A food one ?

littlemissattitude · 06-14-2005, 06:41 AM

Poor baby. (I mean Maya, not Brian :wink

Allergies are yucky when they manifest with a rash. I came up allergic to penicillin a few years ago. Got all itchy, with a rash on my legs and wherever else I scratched. Two weeks. I itched for two weeks. Even my tongue itched.

Anyway, Brian, I'm glad it wasn't anything more serious.

Princess Ivy · 06-14-2005, 12:15 PM

brian, i know how you felt there. the doctors tend to treat any non-blanching rash as possible meningitis or septesimia. my daughter has been rushed in with 'suspected', my god i nearly had heart failure. But its is nessessary because when my son was rushed in with suspected, he actualy did have septesimia. and it was only the fast actions on our part, and rapid response of the doctors which saved his life.
BTW: my daughters turned out to be alergy as well. and now she has to be carful (or rather i do) as she develops exema very quickly when exposed to harsh chemicals.
I'm glad shes ok!

I, Brian · 06-14-2005, 12:59 PM

No idea what the supposed allergy is, but Maya is absolutely covered with red blotches - looks almost as if she's been scalded, but obviously that isn;t the case.

Julie had bought a different washing powder to normal - still big brand - but it's now thrown, and all clothes washed in it are being washed again in the normal soap powder.

Was a fun sickly heart-stopping moment, but Maya was generally chirpy, so I particularly found it hard to see the situation as been immediately serious, though Julie is getting extremely agitated while I was talking to the nurse on the phone.

Anyway, I spoke to a friend whose 2 year old had actually contracted meningitis earlier in the year and spoke to him last night - he mentioned that his son had a very bad night, bad dreasm, and had woken up panting and remained like that - when they brought him to a doctors the skin was beginning to break out in the rash, which the doctor recognised immediately and rushed them out to hospital.

He mentioned that because the meninge tissue is inflamed and swollen, the child basically has a big headache and likely hallucinating. Also, that the rash doesn;t necessarily accompany meningitis.

The rash is apparently the blood actually leakling under the skin, so it'll resemble something more like blood blisters, and you absolutely should have a child in that condition in hospital immediately.

As a general interest, here's a useful page on meningitis symptoms:
http://www.meningitis-trust.org/dise...y=18&section=2

Princess Ivy · 06-14-2005, 01:20 PM

With my lex it started with a boil on his backside and a rash that faintly resembled excema. towards the middle of his time (before the drugs started helping) he looked as if he'd been scalded in a bath of boiling oil. the nurses were (i swear i'm not being paranoid here) looking at me as if i'd done something to him. The doctors had never seen anything like him; in fact they asked me if they could photograph him to use as a case study in their teaching hospital

As you can imagine i chased them out of the room shouting!
I can make jokes now. but it was horrible at the time. I could only use very specific washing powders till two years ago with Zoe, and its only in the last month that i've been able to use sensitive skin fabric softerner. soap also needs looking at, as well as shampoos. bubble bathes are almost accross the board a no-no. poor child. she can only have a bubbly bath about one every six months. when she is going swimming. strangly enough swimming helps. i believe (have been told) that it is to do with the chlorine which dries up the rash.

Alexa · 06-14-2005, 01:40 PM

I have to be careful with creams, soaps, shampoo, whether changes all the time. Otherwise my skin reacts immediately and I hate when I cannot help myself and sneeze all the time. When you get used to what you have to avoid, it's not so bad.