Being bitten by mosquitoes and mosquitoes while in Camping Adventures is almost a right of passage for Australian children.
Usually, itchs for a few days, sometimes they need a bandaid, then they cure without more thought.
However, for a family traveling full time, an ordinary mosquito bite recently became an scared nightmare that they never believed possible.
The bite that became unpleasant
Last month, Bek’s daughter, Ava, began scratching a mosquito sting after being close to the family camp in Ballina, NSW.
“Our children have bit their legs by Mozzies [mosquitoes] And in innumerable times, and I never had a reaction, so I just put some antibacterial Mozzie [mosquito] The bite cream to help stop the itching, “Brisbane’s mother tells Kidspot.
For the first time, this bite did not go on its own.
“On day four, he had duplicated his size, he was firm and red, and Ava said:” He is starting pain, Mom “,” says Bek about her nine -year -old son.
Bek applied antibiotic ointment, Bactroban, to the inflamed bite and waited to observe the results the next day.
On the fifth day, Bek and her husband, Doug, were packing the caravan to leave Ballina due to the stormy climate, but Ava’s leg was now causing a much more urgent alarm.
“The bite had tripled in size at night and suddenly he could not walk,” recalls the 36 -year -old.
“We were very worried.”
With each doctor in the city reserved for weeks, Bek immediately sought advice through 13health. Ava was evaluated by an online nurse, and the situation was considered so serious that it was sent to a Harbor Coffs hospital.
“Dr. Toke a look and he was a group, because the bite was behind the knee and in a joint, and an infection can have a leg in that joint,” says Bek.
Ava was diagnosed with a staphylococcal infection and an intravenous drip of antibiotics was put in the hospital for three days.
“It was horrible to see her having to go through something like painful since they had to insert a cannula for antibiotics,” says Bek.
“It was horrible for her. The hospital was incredible, but it was a traumatic experience for her.”
What worsened things was that the first round of antibiotics used in AVA was not effective in treating staphylism, and the tests found it with Mrsa, a rare and resistant strain of the condition.
“It had spread all the time by its thigh, and the skin was red and hot, to the point that its lymph nodes were swollen,” says Bek.
A completely different and new round of antibiotics was administered orally, and with Ava now capable of walking again, he was able to return to the caravan, which was now parked in a camp closer to the hospital.
“I was in antibiotics for two weeks, but wound care is the most difficult part,” says Bek. “You can’t use normal bands, you have to use large healing pads and change them two or three times a day, and you can’t get their laws, and there are all kinds of rules around you.”
As for how Ava contracted Staph, doctors told Bek that it was just to scratch his mosquito bites.
“I was explained that we carry staphylococci in our skins, however, some are needed that are the nails and have scratched an open sore, and once it gets into the bloodstream, it is difficult to leave,” he explains.
Of what Bek had no idea at that time, and it was not initially noticed, it is the common thing that is to have recurrences unless eradicated the colonized error.
Painully, that is exactly what happened to Ava just a month later, when they had traveled to Geelong while documented their trips through the picturesque blog Route Australia.
“A grain was put in the upper part of its lower part, and as soon as I saw that it was infected a little, I put bactroban immediately and clarified in three days,” says Bek.
“But then we got a scratch on the back of his Lay, and we immediately sold him, and three days later he begins to swell, and we put the Bactroban again.”
What to do when a bite becomes bathing
However, the scratch was the beginning of a completely new nightmare.
“We made the mistake of making difficult bands and removing them from the left skin spots, and in two days, there were eight points that had become Staph Golden,” says Bek.
Ava was immediately tasks for a local doctor, and once again, antibiotics were given that reduce infection at all.
“Reales worsened, and we ended up in emergency again,” says the exhausted mother. “The doctors there confirmed that they had given him the wrong, but grateful to those who gave him orally this time.”
According to the Hospital Council, the family, which now travels through Mount Gambier, is currently doing a “eradication program” of colonized staphylism, where they complete the caravan, wash all the bedding, clothes and towels.
“It is a great process: we have to remove the car seats, wash them and sprinkle the entire car.”
Until now, no one but Ava has been affected so far, but the whole family is bathing in the surgical washing of chlorhexidine as part of eradication.
While Eva’s wounds have been cured, the physical and emotional scars of two serious staphylococcal infections remain.
“He is afraid to scratch or touch any pain in his body now, and he is worried that he will remain in his body forever,” says Bek.
“She also has scars on the back of both or her legs now.”
Life along the way – with new challenges
With his planned trips to continue until his return to Brisbane in 18 months on the way, the family is taking all precautions to stay healthy while enjoying the adventure they set.
“We are reaching the Capder climate, so Ava’s leg uses lids and long -sleeved pants now, and the nails remain very short,” says Bek.
“Now we also have a sanitiser by hand. We are not going to wrap it in cotton, but we have made many changes and we have let children tell us soon, since they receive a bite or a scratch.”
Now they also use mosquito patches, which apply on a bite to relieve itching and protect it from being touched by anything that can infect it.
Ah, and they will also avoid anything inflatable, after the seven -year -old son, Connor, broke his arm in the concrete of a regional nsw castle, just one week after early infection by Ava staphylococci.
“It has a large pair of months in our lap, but we are hanging there and hoping that there are no more visits to the emergency room before finishing.”