Rare but ‘catastrophic' bacterial infection behind NSW children's deaths
Associate Professor Kathryn Browning Carmo, acting director of the NSW Newborn & paediatric Emergency Transport Service (NETS), told an inquest into Pippa's death on Tuesday that hers was one of the first 'in a series of cases' of Group A streptococcus (iGAS) the emergency service dealt with over a two-year period.
Carmo said NSW was largely 'immune naive' to what appeared to be a more aggressive form of the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes when doctors at Orange Base Hospital called for NETS assistance around 6am on June 13, 2022, hours before Pippa's death.
The infection was rare but could lead to 'devastating, crashing and catastrophic' cases of sepsis in children, Carmo said, noting that some children could go from having very little water in the lungs to 'complete whiteout' on scans 'within hours'.
'It was that aggressive … it was an absolutely devastating illness,' she said.
An academic paper co-authored by Carmo and read in court showed the NETS team were referred to 77 cases of children with iGAS between November 2022 and February 2024. Four died from the infection.
In the previous five years, they had responded to just nine cases.
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But the Administrative Review Tribunal found Ms Farrow-Smith did not go to the doctor until April of the same year, a delay she says was because of COVID-19 lockdowns at the time. Meanwhile Comcare says the journalist didn't display symptoms until at least late March, making the offending bite more likely to have occurred later than she claimed. "I am not satisfied that the applicant is accurately describing her symptoms during March 2020," tribunal deputy president Damien O'Donovan said in his decision handed down on July 22. "In those circumstances, I am not satisfied that the applicant contracted Ross River fever as a result of a mosquito bite in February 2020." That meant she wasn't eligible for compensation under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, he said. Mr O'Donovan said he doubted Ms Farrow-Smith's contention that she could not remember being bitten by a mosquito between February 14 and April when she was diagnosed with Ross River fever. In her evidence, she said when she was filming in Coraki, which was hit by flooding at the time, she was swarmed by mosquitoes. "I felt mosquitos biting through my jacket on my shoulder blades and on the skin at the back of my neck, as well as biting my neck through clothing," she said. "The mosquito attack went on for about five minutes ... I felt very itchy as I drove back to the office." Ms Farrow-Smith worked for another fortnight, then started long service leave on February 28 when she says she felt unwell with aches and pains and went to a pharmacy and later to Yamba on holiday, where the tribunal concluded she may have been bitten again. "I am satisfied that the applicant was bitten on multiple occasions in the period from February 2020 to April 2020," Mr O'Donovan said in his decision. He said the ABC was concerned the reporter's delay in seeking medical advice "suggests that she may have in fact developed her symptoms later than 28 February 2020". Mr O'Donovan concluded: "In these circumstances, I am not satisfied that the applicant contracted the Ross River fever from which she suffers in mid-February 2020 as a result of a mosquito bite suffered while reporting for the ABC. "It is possible that that is what occurred, but I am not affirmatively satisfied that that is what occurred. "It is more likely, and more consistent with the independently verifiable facts, that the applicant suffered a mosquito bite in March 2020 while on long service leave and developed Ross River fever symptoms in early April following which, her condition gradually worsened." The application for compensation was heard by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in May 2022 and its decision was appealed to the Federal Court which referred it to the Administrative Review Tribunal. The ABC has been embroiled in a long-running legal battle with journalist Antoinette Lattouf. In June Ms Lattouf was awarded $70,000 in damages after winning her unlawful termination case over her views on Gaza in the Federal Court. Taxpayers are facing a $2 million-plus bill for the public broadcaster's failed legal defence.
