Join us on Tuesday 1st May for a webchat on Sepsis with Dr Ed Gaynor

[RachelMumsnet]

Following on from this thread we’ve organised a webchat about sepsis with Dr Ed Gaynor.

Ed has been a paediatrician for 10 years looking after babies and children, working in London and the South East of England. He now specialises in paediatric gastroenterology - problems with a child’s digestive system.

He is a clinical fellow for the National Medical Director for the NHS in England, and has helped to develop resources to enable parents to identify when a child might be unwell. Such as the NHS Choices video: “Spotting sepsis in the Under 5s”

Having spent a career diagnosing and treating children with severe infections, he would like to use his experience to help mumsnetters to learn how to identify signs and symptoms of sepsis early.

Sepsis is a rare but serious complication of an infection, where the body’s immune system goes into overdrive, setting off a series of reactions that can lead to a body’s organ to fail, and in some cases, death. The aim of this webchat is to empower parents with the knowledge they need to recognise the potentially deadly symptoms, so they can spot sepsis as early as possible and seek urgent medical help. Please note Dr Gaynor will not be able to diagnose any specific conditions during the webchat.

Join us on Tuesday (1st May) between 9 and 10pm where Dr Gaynor will be answering your questions on the signs and symptoms of sepsis, or post your questions in advance on this thread. More information about what to look out for in babies and children can be found on our webpage Sepsis in babies and children

@Plantlover

My child has asd and picks at themselves.

I've tries to talk to them about sepsis but the compulsion to self harm is strong.

All these entry points in their skin especially their fingers worries me.

Any thoughts?

Hi ‘Plantlover’ this does sound like a challenge for you and your child.

Self-harming behaviour and other compulsive tendencies can be very hard to ‘control’ and I’m sure you’ve developed lots of strategies to deflect self-harming behaviour when it happens. I would particularly highlight this concern with your community paediatrician or school – as they can hopefully give you pointers.

In regards to skin infections and sepsis, you are right that skin infections can progress to sepsis. Thankfully it is still relatively uncommon, but it would be important that if you signs of spreading infection (red areas around cuts in the skin, that start spreading away from the injury site), that you son is reviewed and gets some antibiotics if felt necessary.

You can help preserve the skin barrier by keeping the skin well moisturised and is small breaks in the skin, simple Vaseline / Petroleum jelly, over the break can maintain the barrier function.

If there are more systemic signs (fever etc), then he needs an urgent review.

@kateandme

if you have a self harmer at home who get infections often. is there at form of sepsis- being the already emotional turmoil of seeking help-that can be treated at home or without going to hospital.how would you no when its gone too far. would this be something a gp or treamtnet centre could give the required medication to heal at home where they feel safe. fingers crossed this makes sense!

Thanks for your post ‘kateandme’ it’s a really difficult situation. The short answer, is that if sepsis is suspected, then you should call 999 or take your child to your local A&E urgently.

The more nuanced answer is that in the early stages of infection ( but not sepsis ), it may be possible to treat simple bacterial infections with oral antibiotics. This is where it’s really important to develop your professional relationship with your GP(s). As they get to know your child, it is much easier for them to see what is a simple vs. significant illness for them, and then monitor them once treatment is started.

Its best to ask the practice manager or your named GP what support they can give you locally. Also remember that GPs are available 24 hours a day, although it may be in a different centre to the one you go to during the day – so use the internet or 111 to get access to your local out-of-hours GP.

If my kid has a temperature and has some of the signs on the sepsis list you put, I give them nurofen or calpol or both. If they then seem better do I not need to worry about sepsis? If you have sepsis would medication like calpol mask symptoms?

@Jengajiggle

If my kid has a temperature and has some of the signs on the sepsis list you put, I give them nurofen or calpol or both. If they then seem better do I not need to worry about sepsis? If you have sepsis would medication like calpol mask symptoms?

Hi Jengajiggle

If your child has fever and some of the signs of sepsis, I would definitely call 111 or my GP, and it I was worried I'd call an ambulance. Clearly if your child is full of cold, is otherwise well, and the temperature settles - then using your own judgement is sensible.

There's a really good video giving advice about this on NHS Choices

Thank you for all your great questions and for joining me this evening. It has been a pleasure.

For more information to read about sepsis go to:

sepsistrust.org/

For a video explaining the signs of sepsis in children, with the fantastic Dr Ranj:

For a video explaining how to manage fever in a child:

That brings us to the end of the hour. Thanks so much Ed for your time this evening and for answering so many questions. We'll be putting your advice together in a sepsis advice webpage which we'll link to from this webchat when it's live.

Thanks to all those who posted questions.

Remember that if your child is unwell with either a fever or very low temperature (or has had a fever in the last 24 hours), sepsis may be possible in a child who:

– Is breathing very fast
– Has a ‘fit’ or convulsion
– Looks mottled, bluish, or pale
– Has a rash that does not fade when you press it
– Is very lethargic or difficult to wake
– Feels abnormally cold to touch

In children under 5 years your should also think about sepsis if your child:

– Is not feeding
– Is vomiting repeatedly
– Hasn’t had a wee or wet nappy for 12 hours

Thanks again for your time. We hope this has been useful.

Goodnight

Looking back, I realise how lucky I was not to develop sepsis when I acquired a (probably uterine) pastuerella infection (the microbiologists were very excited - we think it was from me feeding one of the cats who had a bad cut antibiotics ) 2 weeks post partum, so therefore still immune-suppressed and ended up back in the maternity hospital on IV antibiotics for a week!

I was fortunate that I rang a GP friend when I started feeling really bad and when she didn't initially recognise me because I sounded so bad told me to ring NHS24 and get along to OOH service straight away. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have stopped at home between the OOH and the maternity hospital (which I needed to do to as the hospital attached to the OOH service wouldn't let ds, who was fully breastfed, be admitted with me) to pack a bag

With all the the publicity recently about sepsis, I'm grateful I was taken seriously and would love to look at my notes

Thanks!