Tick-borne disease suspected in 2-year-old's death

Source: CNN

Tick-borne disease suspected in 2-year-old's death
By Victoria Knight, CNN
Updated 9:58 AM ET, Thu June 8, 2017

(CNN) -- A 2-year-old Indianapolis girl died Sunday of what doctors suspect is Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a disease spread by ticks. ... Her aunt, Jordan Clapp, described how Kenley Ratliff's illness began: "She started with a fever of 100.8. That was at the first hospital. We were advised to keep her hydrated and rested. Her fever went up to 104, so we went to a second hospital. They gave her more antibiotics."

Kenley tested positive for strep throat and was given more antibiotics. But around day four or five, her fever hadn't dropped, and she was going limp. Light pink rashes also started popping up. Her mom, Kayla Conn, had to hold her head up.

It wasn't until another antibiotic was administered and those pink rashes turned dark purple-red that doctors at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis thought Kenley might have Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

"Because they had already given her so many antibiotics, they had to wait to give her the antibiotic to treat Rocky Mountain spotted fever," Clapp said. "By then, her brain was so swollen from the weeklong fever. She was brain-dead before they could give her the antibiotic."

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/08/health/indianapolis-girl-dies-tick-bite-bn/

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Full disclosure: This is of interest to me, as my maternal grandmother, who was born in 1895, nearly died of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in the 1930s.

No one knew what was wrong. Finally, the family GP recognized the symptoms and decided to try that newfangled antibiotic thing that was all the talk of modern medicine. That worked, and my grandmother pulled through.

The family GP was a Doctor Latane. He was a friend of John Warner's father, who was also an MD. John Warner used to be a senator from Virginia. He still shows up at one of the Senate Office Buildings from time to time. He must be in his early 90s.

Yes, it was a while ago. Anyway, my mom made sure to look us over when we came in from playing outside in the summer. Rocky Mountain spotted fever was always on her mind.

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Rocky Mountain spotted fever
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_spotted_fever