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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Did my baby have sepsis ??

8 replies

mirrror · 20/11/2023 11:30

When my DD was 5 months old ( back in 2020 ) she suddenly started suffering from a very high fever that didn't come down with fever medicine. We were absolutely terrified and took her to a and e.

The doctor didn't like the sound of her cry and also saw a few marks on her legs ( which we think may have been caused by the blood pressure machine, the doctor thought so too but was being extra cautious). The doctor said she just didn't like how my DD presented and suspected septic meningitis or something along those lines.

They did a spinal tap on my poor baby and also quite quickly I think, gave her antibiotics. Although I can't actually remember if they put a line in her arm immediately or whether it took longer to do so.

In any case, we stayed in hospital for a couple of nights and due to Covid, we were moved to GOSH. The hospital in north london that we'd gone to initially, was only able to keep children for one night or something like that.

Anyhow, DD got better. She was on antibiotics. They later explained that the spinal tap had come back negative.

It was absolutely terrifying to say the least, but DD was ok and all forgotten.

DD recently went back to GOSH for something completely unrelated ( a heart murmur they found when she was a tiny baby ). This was a follow up visit from an appointment she had when she was 6 months old.

I just received a letter explaining the visit ( she was discharged without follow up ) and it says on the letter, under clinical profile - sepsis.

I know it doesn't matter but no one ever said that's what she had at the time.

When we first went to GOSH for the heart murmur- the consultant asked about her general health and I remember telling him the story of what had happened. Could it have been him who assumed that was sepsis and that's why it's on her notes ? Or would it definitely have been written on her notes at the time she was an in patient ?

It doesn't really matter but I was just curious.

OP posts:
Frogmarch89 · 20/11/2023 11:32

I think it could be they suspected sepsis. I know when I had DD we had symptoms of it and we were both put on the sepsis pathway with strong antibiotics. Nobody ever explicitly said that we had sepsis though.

Pradder · 20/11/2023 11:34

I’d guess that when she was admitted she was treated for presumed sepsis - better to assume the worst and be wrong.

However, if she was only in hospital for 2-3 days then realistically I don’t think it can have been sepsis. Sepsis requires many days of IV antibiotics and a pretty long hospital stay.

I would imagine the discharge letter said, or intended to say “treated for presumed sepsis, but fortunately results were reassuring and she got better quickly so it was probably just a virus or milder bacterial infection”. But that isn’t so quick to write on a medical record.

Does that make sense?

FacingTheWall · 20/11/2023 11:35

They treat for sepsis if they suspect it, they don’t wait for results to come back. So I would think somewhere in the notes that’s how it’s been recorded.

Singleandproud · 20/11/2023 11:36

I guess it's a bit like I got put on the 2- week cancer pathway as I had some iffy moles, turns out they were fine but I was still on that pathway.

Glad she's ok. I think the only way to find out for sure is to ask your GP next time you see them

x2boys · 20/11/2023 11:36

Pradder · 20/11/2023 11:34

I’d guess that when she was admitted she was treated for presumed sepsis - better to assume the worst and be wrong.

However, if she was only in hospital for 2-3 days then realistically I don’t think it can have been sepsis. Sepsis requires many days of IV antibiotics and a pretty long hospital stay.

I would imagine the discharge letter said, or intended to say “treated for presumed sepsis, but fortunately results were reassuring and she got better quickly so it was probably just a virus or milder bacterial infection”. But that isn’t so quick to write on a medical record.

Does that make sense?

Im.not sure that's always the case ?
My nephew had sepsis at four months old they caught it early and he was only in hospital for a few days I think?
He's 21 now so it's a long time ago.

HerculesMulligan · 20/11/2023 11:38

I had sepsis as an adult, during a long antenatal stay in HDU, and they didn't use that specific word to me. A GP friend visited me during the illness, and looked at my chart, and she later said something that made me realise that's what it had been.

Miyagi99 · 20/11/2023 11:47

She would have been treated for presumed sepsis but they probably ruled it out when the LP results came back negative.

botheredand · 20/11/2023 11:53

x2boys · 20/11/2023 11:36

Im.not sure that's always the case ?
My nephew had sepsis at four months old they caught it early and he was only in hospital for a few days I think?
He's 21 now so it's a long time ago.

Procedures and protocols change a huge amount in 21 years

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