UK Toddler With Severe Chicken Pox Turned Away By Doctors Before Being Hospitalised Days Later

A mum in the UK, whose toddler was hospitalised for what the doctors described as the ‘worst chickenpox ever seen’, was told days before that her son didn’t need to see a doctor.

Mum Sarah Allen, 36, claims that two days before her two-year-old son, Jasper, was taken to hospital due to the severity of the chickenpox, which had his entire body covered in red, raw, itching sores, she was refused an appointment at her local GP surgery because a receptionist did not think the condition was severe enough to warrant a visit.

“When I first called our local GP’s surgery I spoke to the receptionist to make an appointment for Jasper but when I told her it was chickenpox she said to me “every mother thinks their child has bad chickenpox”.

“I knew I wasn’t being a neurotic mother – I have two children and have run a nursery and seen hundreds of kids with chickenpox before so I knew this wasn’t normal.

“They should listen to parents more – we know our babies better than anybody in the world,” she said.

Mrs Allen said they first noticed a few spots on Jasper in July after he had scarlet fever the week before. The next morning, hundreds of spots erupted.

When Jasper’s temperature continued to rise, Mrs Allen took him to the local GP surgery and he was prescribed antibiotics and oral medication for an infection. However, his condition still didn’t improve so she took him to A&E at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon, where he was quickly admitted onto the children’s ward and spent five days in hospital on an IV drip and antiviral medication, antibiotics and morphine.

Mrs Allen said that Jasper’s illness was so bad that doctors considered contacting medical journals as they had never seen such an extreme case.

At that point, Mrs Allen felt relieved.

“When Jasper was admitted to hospital, it was scary but I was also relieved I was actually being taken seriously and they were doing something about it.

“I was one of those parents who couldn’t wait for my two-year-old to get chickenpox so then it was out of the way – I didn’t think there was any harm in letting him get it.

“But to see him get it like that and see how it took over his body was just heart-breaking.

“Nearly every child I’ve ever had in my care has had chickenpox at some point, but never like this.

“It was definitely not “just chickenpox” and I want people to realise this,” she said.

Jasper is undergoing heart scans to ensure the chickenpox has no lasting effects.

Now, Mrs Allen is calling on the UK Government to make the chickenpox vaccination part of the NHS’s routine childhood immunisation schedule so it is automatically available for all children, similar to those in the US, Europe and Australia.

“I don’t want this to be a debate about vaccination – I don’t care if you do not want to vaccinate your child, but sign the petition so everyone else has the choice,” she said.

However, a spokesman for the Department of Health said that since chickenpox is usually “a mild illness” in children with most recovering quickly”, that is why the vaccine is not routinely offered to children in the UK, but the “Government’s expert vaccination advisors are reviewing this.”

Source: Dailymail.co.uk