Parents tell when family vacations were ruined by illness

In October, when the family was spending a month in Thailand, Lilliana nearly died – and then one of her legs – because of meningococcal disease.

The disease will set in at a frightening speed, causing the death of the eight-month-old baby on the brink of death. Without warning, her parents, Jai Sheridan and Elisha Robinson, faced the possibility of returning home without her on the Gold Coast.

Now, Ms. Robinson revealed terrifying details of the day in Thailand when her daughter woke up in full health and was "dying before lunchtime".

"She had woken up and she had a fever. And she had never been sick before, she had never even caught a cold or anything like that, "said Robinson to the family's insurer, Zoom Travel Insurance.

"I was lying on the couch with Lilli and I felt her start burning. She started to limp all at once, I looked at her and she was still a little awake, but her lips were blue and her nails blue.

"So we took her to Phuket Town and it was only the beginning of a nightmare."

Lilliana received oxygen and intravenous fluids while the doctors performed tests to determine why the infant had quickly deteriorated.

The results confirmed that she was suffering from meningococcal sepsis, a bacterial infection of the blood and blood vessels that turned her blood into poison.

"They were telling us that your daughter will die," said Ms. Robinson.

A sickening purple rash – a dreaded physical symptom of meningococcus – has been declared on Lilliana's legs and her skin has become gangrenous. In three terrifying days, her heart rate reached 230 beats per minute. Elisha and Jai were ordered to prepare for Lilliana's cardiac arrest.

The family also had to face the horror of discovering that the hospital had no negative blood for her baby, which prompted a desperate woman, Mrs. Robinson, to claim donations on social media.

"My baby is dying in Bangkok Hospital Phuket, city," she wrote on Facebook. "She needs black blood.

"Please, help me, please, I beg, I can not lose my baby."

After her condition stabilized, she was sent to Bangkok's Samitivej Hospital, where doctors spent two grueling hours scratching the infected, infected flesh of the baby's legs in the hope of saving him. Fortunately, they were there.

Lilliana spent two weeks in an intensive car before returning to the Gold Coast, where she now needs skin grafting surgeries, steroid injections and physiotherapy to recover from the meningococcus that ravaged her small body.

Mrs. Robinson talks about the story of Lilliana to warn parents about meningococcal disease and the need to purchase travel insurance.

She added that her insurer, Zoom Travel Insurance, had paid over $ 113,000 in claims to Lilliana and her family.

In addition to covering medical and transportation expenses, Zoom helped to get explanations on Thai medical reports to Lilliana's parents, arranged for an Australian Critical Care Nurse to be on the ground, arranges ambulances flights and flight permits and arranges flights for the family to return home. .

"They not only supported Lilli, Jai and me, but they also took care of my parents', my brother's, and my sister-in-law's," said Ms. Robinson.

"We were in a foreign country and my baby was dying, and they made us feel less alone."

"BREAKFAST AND DEATH HEALTH"

Infants and children under five and those aged 15 to 24 are among the most vulnerable to meningococcal meningitis, which has between 150 and 350 cases in Australia each year.

Parents were warned of an increase in the number of fatal illness cases in November and after the death of a seven-year-old boy in southwestern Sydney.

Meningococcal disease is an acute bacterial infection resulting in blood poisoning, as in the case of Lilliana, or inflammation of the lining of the brain. It spreads easily and progresses quickly.

"The delay between the onset of the first symptoms and the critical condition can last several hours," said Eliza Ault-Connell, director of Meningococcal Australia, who survived the disease.

"You can look healthy at breakfast and be dead at dinner."

Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, headache, stiff neck, joint pain, red or purple rashes, aversion to bright lights, nausea and vomiting.

"Not all symptoms are present at the same time, and young children may have less specific symptoms, including irritability, crying, and refusal to eat," said Ault-Connell.

"Meningococcal disease can affect everyone, but some groups, including infants and young children, young adults, smokers, intimate kisses, especially with multiple partners, and travel to countries where the Meningococcal rate is high are particularly at risk.

"People with meningococcal symptoms should consult a doctor urgently. If you have seen a doctor before, but the symptoms continue to worsen, see your doctor again or go to the emergency department. "

There are two separate vaccinations for the five major components of meningococcal disease. Protection against strains A, C, W and Y may be granted from the age of two months and is part of the Australian National Immunization Program for children 12 months of age and older.

Parents wishing to vaccinate their children before 12 months will have to pay between 60 and 100 dollars for a dose.

The meningococcal B vaccine can be given starting at six weeks. It is not part of the national immunization program and costs between $ 120 and $ 150 per dose.

Different states offer free vaccination programs for some strains and age groups.

Ms. Ault-Connell recommended that parents talk to the general practitioner and learn about this devastating disease.

"Check that your child's vaccines are up to date with the Australian Immunization Registry," she said.

"Know the first signs and know how to get treatment if you suspect the disease. With the rapid onset of meningococcus, knowledge can save a life. "

Lilliana's mother said she hoped that parents could learn a horrible family vacation from her family.

"Do not be afraid to look ridiculous because your child's life may be at stake, trust your maternal instincts," said Ms. Robinson.

"I hope that Lilli's story can help prevent someone else from having to suffer that, and is a warning to those who still take the plane without insurance." . "