health Kid dies after a simple elbow cut allows strep bacteria to infect his body

[hyde+]

Death by Strep: One Family's Tragic Loss

On March 27, 12-year-old Rory Staunton fell and cut his arm during a basketball game at school. Four days later, he died of a common and typically treatable infection. What went wrong?

When Rory fell and cut his elbow on Tuesday, March 27, while playing basketball at the Garden School in Queens, N.Y., it wasn?t particularly gruesome. So scant was the blood, he got a bandage and went on his way, his father says.

The next day, Wednesday, the cut reopened. This time, Rory was given two bandages. He seemed fine otherwise, so no further treatment was administered, his parents say. It was just a simple scrape.

http://www.everydayh...ragic-loss.aspx

I am trying to collect some historical data as to when this first started appearing or being detected. Especially after reading about the case of Aimee Copeland, this is really another serious warning that these type of "rare" cases need to be brought more into media's attention, the caring media, that is..

[ahhell]

What went wrong?? He didn't get proper medical treatment is what happened.

:s

[articuno1au]

It's a risk with any injury.

There's no need for this to be reported on because it will just lead to every parent taking their child to the ER for a scratch :\

[The Rev]

You know, maybe it was just omitted, but I find it strange that nowhere in the article was there a mention of CLEANING the wound when it happened (or soon after) and using ANTIBIOTIC topical cream.... Like, HELLO?? Anyone home? *Facepalm*..... And as for the doctor.... I think the kid should have been ADMITTED to the hospital the SECOND time he was seen by his doctor... Jesus Christ, this is probably a result of the doc trying to save healthcare costs... I'm sorry, but this to me seems like gross negligence to me... "he has a high fever and is throwing up? oh, he'll be fine.... he just needs some rest.... Yeah, he's getting a lot of rest NOW, isn't he?? Morons.

[threetonesun]

Seriously, when we were kids, if we got cut the wound got doused in alcohol no matter how much we protested. Now that things like Neosporin are so widespread, there's no reason for superficial cuts to get infected.

[majortom1981]

Says he caught strep in the wound. This could have happened veen with antibiotic cream on the wound. This is one of those rare case things.

[articuno1au]

You know, maybe it was just omitted, but I find it strange that nowhere in the article was there a mention of CLEANING the wound when it happened (or soon after) and using ANTIBIOTIC topical cream.... Like, HELLO?? Anyone home? *Facepalm*..... And as for the doctor.... I think the kid should have been ADMITTED to the hospital the SECOND time he was seen by his doctor... Jesus Christ, this is probably a result of the doc trying to save healthcare costs... I'm sorry, but this to me seems like gross negligence to me... "he has a high fever and is throwing up? oh, he'll be fine.... he just needs some rest.... Yeah, he's getting a lot of rest NOW, isn't he?? Morons.

Go read the article.

Firstly, upon the first examination by the pediatrician, the child was sent to the ER. He was sent home because the ER doctors (both of them) reached the same conclusion as the pediatrician.

Flu, stomach bugs, all kinds of infections present with these symptoms. In most of these cases, the answer is rest and fluids.

The problem is that by the time you can identify the illness as a blood infection of strep, the person is already at the cusp of being beyond help.

The only thing I read in that that made me wonder was the blue marks. My understanding is that that is an indicator of a bacterial infection. That said, they may have appeared as bruises.

Regarding the anti-biotic cream, it's entirely possible that that would not have helped given that the infection was in the blood, it takes a very short time for an infection to take in an open wound, not to mention enter the blood.

I think you'll find most doctors are not, in fact, morons.

To quote house: If you hear hoofbeats, you think horse, not zebra.

[Charisma Veteran]

Yeah, this was really a tragic rare case, you can't blame anyone, they did their best with what they were presented. It just happens so fast and, like articuno said, by the time you realise what's going on it's usually too late. =/

[hyde+]

Would neosporin or alchohol really help? It's surprising that it has come up both here and other places I read about this. I wonder if he cut himself on metal or some sharp rock.

I heard stories of people getting serious illness when they play in mud or dirt and cut themselves (like tetanus) but they all have shots/immunizations. The problem with this is, nobody is educated about strep bacteria. You never think about it.

When I was a kid there was this red/orange tint liquid we used to put on our scrapes and cuts after washing it with a oxigenated water, what was it? Can we still buy those things or is neosprin just as effective?

[DocM]

The problem s that there has been a huge increase in the number and strength of antibiotic resistant "super-bugs," and a large number of these are variants of Streptococcus A - an otherwise innocuous bug that's on everyone's skin. Many of these are so aggressive they kill or cause amputations within days, and the symptoms come on so fast & hard there's almost zero time to get treatment before very bad things happen.

I lost part of my right foot to such a super-bug 2 years ago. Being diabetic didn't help, but the CDC interviewers told me the strain I had killed several people in the area who weren't in its first few months.

There have also been connections made between Strep A infection and tics & OCD.

[hjf288]

Iodine?

[DocM]

Might as well put water on it with a lot of the super-bugs, plus it's topical and does no good within the tissues or bloodstream.

To kill my infection took an IV cocktail of antibiotics which included 2 that were not yet approved by the FDA, plus one that is normally held back for the worst of the worst cases.

[Charisma Veteran]

Would neosporin or alchohol really help? It's surprising that it has come up both here and other places I read about this. I wonder if he cut himself on metal or some sharp rock.

I heard stories of people getting serious illness when they play in mud or dirt and cut themselves (like tetanus) but they all have shots/immunizations. The problem with this is, nobody is educated about strep bacteria. You never think about it.

When I was a kid there was this red/orange tint liquid we used to put on our scrapes and cuts after washing it with a oxigenated water, what was it? Can we still buy those things or is neosprin just as effective?

You must mean iodine or Campho-Phenique, I think some varieties of that stuff were reddish.

[hyde+]

Some news..

www.nytimes.com/2012/07/12/nyregion/in-rory-stauntons-fight-for-his-life-signs-that-went-unheeded.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

[DocM]

Some news.. www.nytimes.com/2012/07/12/nyregion/in-rory-stauntons-fight-for-his-life-signs-that-went-unheeded.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Critical info -

The bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes is part of the human ecosystem, normally dwelling in the throat or on the skin, areas where the body is well defended. Also known as Group A streptococcus, the strain typically causes strep throat or impetigo.

But if it is able to penetrate soft tissue or blood, ?it moves very quickly,? said Dr. Michael B. Edmond, the chairman of the division of infectious diseases at Virginia Commonwealth University. ?The mortality rate is high. The clinical findings early in the infection can be relatively subtle.?

The challenge for physicians is recognizing an invasive infection, whether from Group A strep or other pathogens, before the cascading damage of sepsis has picked up too much speed. The consortium of New York hospitals has a goal of starting antibiotics within an hour of spotting sepsis in the emergency room, according to officials with the Greater New York Hospital Association?s Stop Sepsis program.

For every hour?s delay in giving antibiotics after very low blood pressure had set in, a study found, the survival rate decreased by 7.6 percent.

[Growled Member]

These rare diseases don't seem to be as rare as they used to be.

[ArialBlue]

I think people need to advance speed of antibiotic and antiviral drug design. Bloody hell we have so much computing power these days.