Strep A concerns

[Mummyof287]

DD aged 5 weekend before last had what was clearly scarlett fever.The sandpaper rash on her lower stomach/groin area (albeit not widespread) fever and intermittent sore throat.However the symptoms whilst there were mild and brief-:she was mostly her usual self, so I didn't really link it up in my head (feel bad that I didn't!) until the week after when I got ill with a really nasty sore throat and flu like symptoms, and realised it ticked all the boxes for Strep A.I then thought that must have been what DD had too.

Doctor said last Friday at appt that i had tonsillitis (had the classic red throat and white patches) and prescribed antibiotics.I queried strep A and also had DD checked incase, but by that point she had no symptoms.

On Sunday night, she started complaining of vaginal itching.I initially thought it was thrush which we already had her prescribed cream for from before, so put that on several times a day Mon & Tue.By Weds as she was still feeling bad with it I made a doctors appt thinking it might be a UTI and when I took her I did question Strep A with the Dr, and he did a vaginal swab.

Yesterday, she began feeling unwell with cold like symptoms.She was up and down but not REALLY ill.She was up once last night needing calprufen, and then today has become increasingly worse with flu like symptoms, complaining of aching neck, tummy, head, dizziness and has a horrendous runny nose.
Dr rung this afternoon and confirmed that the vaginal swab had come back as confirmed Strep A.He prescribed antibiotics straight away and we gave her the first dose (we had to force it into her, so not sure if it all went in) an hour ago.She also had calprufen an hour ago.Her temperature is currently sticking at 38.8- she is drifting in and out of sleep, feels very hot but saying she is cold and has goosebumps, and that her head and tummy hurt.DH is now getting calpol to take aswell.

I'm thinking if the temperature doesn't come down soon I should ring 111- I know she has antibiotics now for the Strep A, but what scares me is that she has had the gap of 2wks between initially becoming ill with the scarlett fever and now, and I'm concerned incase it has developed into something more serious eg; Invasive Strep A or Rheumatic fever.

Not sure if the antibiotics take awhile to work, or if they would work in general for something more serious if it was that...

Call 111

You poor things ☹️
the important thing is she’s now on the right antibiotic. If first dose only was given an hour ago you’re not going to see any improvement for 24 hours at least. you just need to alternate calpol and nurofen and push fluids.
invasive strep A comes on hard and fast - the fact she’s been poorly
for a while is actually reassuring that it is “just” strep A for which she’s on the right antibiotics.
watch out for: if temperature rockets out of control (can’t get it below 40) or she is unresponsive, not passing urine, mottled skin, rash then take her in. But otherwise be reassured she’s on correct meds and actually we all carry strep A
on skin so her vaginal infection is just that - sounds like she cleared scarlet fever and tonsillitis on her own like a champ. sending hugs, I’ve been through strep A a good few times
now with my 2 xx

Thanks for the replies- she seems abit less hot and her temp has come down to 38.2 now.Her body, hands and head still warm but her feet are cold though (?)
Gave her calpol about 20mins ago so going to check again in abit.She is still very lethargic and irritable when we try to tend to her, but possibly just really tired.
Will see how she goes over the next 30-60 mins....

If her feet are cold and she's lethargic get her to A&E. Cold limbs can be indicative of sepsis, please don't leave her.

Hi, yes I had heard that, so that's what I was bearing in mind to be vigilant about, however I think her feet were cold because they were sticking out the bottom of the blanket- I covered them with her duvet to see if they warmed up and they are now toasty.

Her temp is now just under/at 38 so has come down and she is in a normal sort of sleep state (not drifting in and out and struggling to settle like she was earlier, but reacting when I've been taking her temperature so not concerningly drowsy)
I know when I had the Strep A/Tonsillitis I had very similar symptoms fever wise and just wanted to sleep.

We are continuing to monitor her really closely....don't want to disturb her unnecessarily now she seems to have improved, but I am definitely one to go on the side of caution and will 100% get her straight to A&E whatever time of night if we feel her condition warrants it

Great you are being vigilant, I think if she seems settled now and temp is 38 and under that’s all good signs and I’d hope you’d see a fair improvement within 24 hours and a big
one within 48

Agree with @wobblymum1. My DD (3yr) has what is thought to be a strep A infection. She has horrendous tonsillitis and has been really poorly. It was surprising how quickly she went downhill; 40+ temps, headache, shivering, cold extremities, having to shake her awake, aversion to lights etc.

It took a couple of days of antibiotics to see a noticeable difference but there were slight signs of improvement after 24hrs. She's been on them a week now (10 day course) and she's back to her usual self.

Eesh, I'm sorry you're ill :( I had Strep A a few weeks ago now and it was horrid. I hope you and your daughter feel better soon.

Thanks everyone- she is still very snotty and needing calpol top ups every 4hrs to feel ok, but is much perkier this morning after a good night's sleep, and has eaten, drunk and weed fine.

Tried to get the antibiotics into her again last night but didn't go too well as she still managed to spit a load out.When it's been the allotted time after she ate, we are going to try putting the antibiotics with a little yoghurt (as the pharmacy has said this would be ok) to hopefully get her to take more!