A 9-year-old Australian girl was temporarily unable to walk and hospitalised for days after she scratched an itchy mosquito bite, the New York Post reported. It all began during a family camping trip in Ballina, New South Wales, when the 9-year-old girl, Ava, scratched a mosquito bite she got at their campsite. Her mother, Bek, said her children had often been bitten by mosquitoes and midges before without any complications, so she just applied an antibacterial mosquito bite cream to help stop the itch. However, the bite did not go away, Bek said.
"Our kids have been bitten by mozzies (mosquitoes) and midges countless times, and never had a reaction, so I just put some antibacterial mozzie (mosquito) bite cream to help stop the itch," the mother-of-two said, adding that the bite, however, didn't go away on its own.
"On day four, it had doubled in size, was firm and red, and Ava said, 'It's starting to get sore, mum'," the 36-year-old said.
Bek then used an antibiotic cream, Bactroban, hoping it would help. But on the fifth day, as the family prepared to leave Ballina due to stormy weather, the 9-year-old's condition worsened. "The bite had tripled in size overnight and she suddenly couldn't walk," she said.
As the parents grew anxious, they sought medical help, but all doctors nearby were booked for weeks. Bek then immediately contacted a nurse online who recommended that the family go to a hospital in Coffs Harbour.
"The doctor took one look at her and he was concerned, because the bite was behind the knee and on a joint, and an infection may have been in that joint," the mother said.
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According to the Post, the 9-year-old girl was diagnosed with a staph infection and was put on an IV drip of antibiotics in the hospital for three days. "It was horrible to watch her have to go through something painful as they had to insert a cannula for the antibiotics. It was horrific for her. The hospital was amazing but it was a traumatic experience for her," Bek said.
The ordeal did not end as the first round of antibiotics used on Ava was not effective in treating the staph at all. Moreover, tests found her to have MRSA, a rare, resistant strain of the condition. "It had spread all the way back up her thigh, and the skin was all red and hot, to the point that her lymph nodes were swollen. You can't use normal band-aids; you have to use big healing pads and change them two to three times a day, and you can't get them wet," Bek said, explaining the severe caution they had to take to help their daughter heal.
The doctors said that we carry staph on our skin; however, once it gets into our bloodstream through an open sore, it's hard to get out. "We made the mistake of putting those tough bandaids on, and taking them off left spots of open skin, and within two days, there were eight spots that had all turned into golden staph," Bek said.
Now, on the hospital's advice, the family are currently doing an "eradication program" of the colonised staph, where they completely clean the caravan, wash all bedding, clothing and towels in a hot wash with disinfectant. While no one else has been affected in the family other than Ava, as a precaution, they are also bathing in chlorhexidine surgical wash as part of the eradication.
The mother said while Ava's wounds have healed, the physical and emotical scars of two serious staph infections remain. "She's scared to scratch or touch any sore on her body now, and she's worried it's going to stay in her body forever," she said. "She's also got scars on the back of both of her legs now," Bek added.
