Toddler referred for immune system blood tests

[Beeloux]

Hi all,
Wondering if anyone has been through similar.

Ds2 has had tonsillitis 8 times since in 6 months, 2 chest infections (the latest one in Nov he was admitted for nebuliser and oxygen). He’s had 8 courses of antibiotics during this time including 1 IV course.

He had tonsillitis again 2 weeks ago and 2 days after I had to take him to A&E as he was sucking in under ribs and neck and making a squeaky noise when breathing. Wouldn't stop coughing. At first they said croup then said it was just viral. The chest infections normally appear a few days after the tonsillitis starts. Whenever he gets the infections, he gets a petechial rash. Sometimes there is only a few singular ones and other times they spread quickly all over. He’s had 4 blood tests which bar one all showed high white blood cell counts and one high inflammatory markers.

He finally had an ENT appointment today where annoyingly she said if he was in the trust in the neighbouring LA, they would consider tonsillectomy but in our trust they don’t do it until over 2 (he’s 2 in March) . She said by the time he’s referred it may delay things.

She’s also referring him to paediatrics for blood tests for his immune system as she said it’s strange he’s getting the tonsillitis and chest infection alongside each other. She mentioned he may need another immunisation or a long course of antibiotics.

Has anyone experienced similar? I’m getting concerned how he is ill so often. He’s also a bad sleeper and wakes up every few hours crying. I can only go off ds1 (4) who is rarely ever ill bar the odd cough.

Thanks in advance!

Forgot to add he is 21 months!

Different health issues but one of my kids also had all the immune system blood tests. They came back normal apart from one which showed that she hadn't got immunity from one of her vaccines, so they re-vaccinated her for that. My understanding is that there are minor immunodeficiencies that can cause repeated infections and that in those circumstances they might, for example, prescribe low dose prophylactic antibiotics, especially in winter.

It is unusual to be unwell so often, and with repeated infections of different kinds together. Are they looking in to the high white blood cell counts?

Thanks for your reply! I’m hoping the blood test won’t be too long but not looking forward to it as he gets very distressed when having them.

It might be an odd coincidence but he only really started getting these infections a month after his 1 year vaccinations.

My son suffered from repeated tonsillitis. Have you tried any vitamins. It might be worth asking them to check his levels when they do the blood test. I recommend the mighty kids vit c, multi vitamin and vit d3/k2. Very pricey but they helped my son’s immune system. Also we increased the amount of fresh fruit and veg and fibre in his diet

Thanks for your reply! I do use the vitamin drops in his milk but I’ll defo check them ones out. He refuses to eat fruit unless blended into something but will happily eat vegetables and meat. When he has tonsilitis or a chest infection he refuses anything to eat except his formula. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he may have a vitamin deficiency as it’s happening so often!

It’s strange as ds1 was extremely fussy at his age and refused anything not beige. He never used to get ill bar the rare cold. The only difference is they have different fathers.

Makes me wonder if it’s something hereditary. Most of my family have psoriasis and my DM had pernicious anaemia.

It’s a vicious cycle with the antibiotics. They wipe out the goodness too so then they’re vulnerable to catch it again. Are they prescribing long enough antibiotics when he has it and different kinds? I know my son was given 5 day course at some points and it would just come back again. I would also ask them to allergy testing with the immune blood tests. My son had a dust mite allergy that caused mouth breathing and big tonsils.

Thank you! It’s always been 10 day courses (I think one was 14. He’s had amoxycillin, phenexomethylpenicillin (which they normally prescribe) and co omaxiclav but they just keep coming back 😩 2 weeks after he had iv antibiotics (followed by a 10 day course of oral ones), his tonsillitis came back again.

I’ll definitely ask about allergy testing. He was referred for one back in summer as he cant get past the first stage of the milk ladder but haven’t heard anything since.

Hi all,
I just received the letter from the ENT and a text saying his blood test is next week.

The test he is getting is ‘immunology screen including Hib and pneumococcal titres’.

Has anyone else’s child had this and know what it entails? Do they just take bloods or also give a vaccine at the same time?

Thanks in advance!

Has anyone actually swabbed his throat OP?

I think that's a similar panel to what my child had. They just did a blood test and took a few vials of blood. It came back that they didn't have immunity from one of the vaccines (HiB maybe). We then discussed and decided to revaccinate. Didn't bother having another blood test after revaccinating to check if they now had immunity because the doctors were of the opinion that lack of immunity wasn't causing their health issues anyway (but we were given the option).

Thank you both.

@Bougainsillier he did back in June when he was admitted to hospital with tonsilitis but it was never mentioned again so I presume all clear. It did say on his letter he has grade 3 tonsils.

He’s had a fever since yesterday and been off his food. His breath has started to smell foul this evening so I think he may have it again but he won’t let me near his mouth to check 😩 He only finished antibiotics for it 2 weeks ago. Will book him in to see GP tomorrow if the fever or smell is still there.

@LovelyDayInnit glad to hear you got to the bottom of it for your DD, hope she’s doing well now 😊Not sure if it’s a coincidence but these recurrent infections started around a month after his 1 year jabs.

I am probably very out of date as I am
now retired, but it used to be that a swab was done to identify precisely what was causing the infection and an appropriate treatment started.
There are visual clues and broad spectrum antibiotics but I am still surprised a swab hasn’t been done again. I would ask the doctor if it was appropriate and the rationale behind his answer.

Hope your little one is ok.