A Mount Warrigal mother is seeing red after her three-year-old son was misdiagnosed with severe dermatitis when he was in fact suffering from scarlet fever.
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Claudia Garbayo said an incorrect diagnosis meant Cohen did not receive the necessary treatment for the bacterial infection, which put him at risk of future complications.
She said it had also led to his sister Amara, 4, contracting the highly contagious condition – and had meant young children at their childcare centre were exposed.
‘’When Amara started to get the same symptoms we went to our family doctor who immediately diagnosed scarlet fever for both her, and Cohen, and it was confirmed by a blood test,’’ Ms Garbayo said.
‘’Amara was put on a 10-day course of antibiotics, but it was too late to treat Cohen as he’d already recovered. The problem is that if left untreated, it can return and spread to other areas of the body, like the kidneys, and cause serious health problems in the future.’’
Ms Garbayo has worked in the childcare industry for two decades, but had never seen anything like the rash that Cohen developed late last month.
She searched health websites, and learnt that his symptoms of fever, red rash and sandpaper-like skin were classic signs of scarlet fever. However she said the GP at an Illawarra medical centre dismissed that theory, putting the symptoms down to a skin condition.
Ms Garbayo claims the GP also refused her request for a throat swab, which would have picked up the infection.
According to the Australian government’s Healthdirect website, scarlet fever is caused by a group A stretococcal infection, and usually affects children aged five to 15 years old.
It’s spread by coughing and sneezing, contact with a contaminated surface or touching or kissing an infected person. Without the right treatment, children can still be infectious for two to three weeks.
‘’Antibiotics will prevent serious health problems including rheumatic fever, kidney disease, pneumonia and arthritis,’’ the site states.
Ms Garbayo said she was speaking out to raise awareness of the condition, and to urge parents to seek a second opinion if they suspected something was not ‘’quite right’’.
‘’If I’d known he had scarlet fever I could have protected him and my daughter better. I would not have sent my children to their childcare centre where there are babies, pregnant mothers, toddlers and children.’’
Ms Garbayo has alerted parents at the childcare centre to the risk.
She’s also made formal written and verbal complaints to the medical centre.
The Mercury contacted the centre for comment.