Latest news with #septicaemia
Daily Mail
18-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Schoolgirl, 10, has three limbs amputated after bruise 'many parents wouldn't suspect as unusual' turned out to be killer disease
A schoolgirl lost both her legs and her right arm after suffering severe complications from meningitis—and her only visible symptom was a 'bruise'. Within 24 hours of telling her parents that she didn't feel well, Penelope Vidal-Walsh, 10, had undergone life-saving emergency surgery at Alder Hey Hospital remove her limbs. On April 10, Penelope—who was feeling under the weather—went to bed as usual at around 9pm, only to wake up at 2am and begin vomiting. The Liverpool Echo reports that her father, Ricardo Vidal, put her in the bath, 'checked her over' saw nothing of any concern, and put her back to bed. The next morning, she got up as usual but was sick again after breakfast, prompting her parents to run her another bath. While in the bath, they noticed a small purple mark on her neck, and later, while dressing her, a similarly coloured rash on her knee. Penelope's aunt, Angel Walsh, 35, told the ECHO that her parents used 'the glass test' to assess if the rash was cause for concern, as recommended by the NHS. It involves pressing a glass against a rash to see if it disappears under pressure—if it doesn't, it could be a sign of a serious infection such as meningitis or septicaemia which needs immediate medical attention. Because the rash didn't disappear, Penelope was immediately taken straight to Ormskirk Hospital. By 9.30am she had been transferred to Alder Hey where she was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and was rushed to intensive care. She not only had meningitis but also a 'very rare fungal infection which caused severe complications'. Mr Vidal said: 'As part of her treatment Penelope underwent a triple amputation surgery, which resulted in her losing her lower limbs and her right arm. 'She is currently undergoing skin grafting surgery as part of her rehabilitation and recovery. 'She has made huge progress and improvement and is even using a wheelchair and building up her core strength as well as the strength in her left arm.' Penelope will remain in the critical care unit of Alder Hey until she undergoes skin grafting surgery. If the procedures are successful she will be discharged in October, six months after initally falling ill. Her parents have launched a fundraiser to try and provide her with the 'best possible chance of living an independent life.' Mr Vidal said: 'We want her to be able to not let this deter her from being the most energetic, fun, lively girl that she always has been. 'She remains determined and motivated to keep building her strength. 'The strength and resilience she shows us every day is just incredible and we are just so proud of her. 'We want to give her the best quality life and opportunities to fulfil any of her dreams and hopes that she had before this occurred.' Meningitis is inflammation of the membranes that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. Anyone can be affected but at-risk people include those aged under five, 15-to-24 and over 45. People exposed to passive smoking or with suppressed immune systems, such as patients undergoing chemotherapy, are also more at risk. The most common forms of meningitis are bacterial and viral, but the former requires urgent treatment at hospital with antibiotics. Some 10 per cent of bacterial cases are fatal, and of those who survive, one in three suffer complications, including brain damage, hearing loss and limb amputation is a if septicaemia (blood poisoning) occurs.
The Guardian
13-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
More than half of koalas relocated to NSW forest died in failed government attempt at reintroduction
An attempt by the New South Wales government to reintroduce koalas to a forest in the state's far south has failed after more than half of the moved animals died, including two with signs of septicaemia, and the remaining marsupials were taken into care. The translocation and deaths of seven out of 13 koalas in April were not made public by the government, prompting questions about whether something went wrong with the project and calls from the NSW Greens for a review. The project was aiming to re-establish a koala population in an area of south-eastern NSW where the species is locally extinct. Translocation is part of NSW's koala strategy to try to improve the trajectory of the endangered species, at risk of extinction in the state. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email A spokesperson for the NSW environment department told Guardian Australia 13 koalas were selected for translocation in April and moved from 'a high-density population' in the Upper Nepean state conservation area west of Wollongong to the South East Forest national park near Bega. They said three koalas died within a two-day period in early April, which led the department's project team to put the remaining 10 animals into a wildlife hospital. Four more koalas died. They said necropsy results from two of the first three koalas that died revealed chronic and acute infections of the lungs and liver, suggesting septicaemia – a bloodstream infection – 'as the likely cause of death'. The spokesperson said the remaining six koalas were healthy and returned to their original habitat in the Upper Nepean. They said the reintroduction project was immediately put on hold for research to try to establish what caused the deaths. The team was 'investigating a potential link between septicaemia in koalas and adverse weather conditions, as the mortalities occurred four to five days after a significant rainfall event,' they said. 'We believe prolonged wet weather can pose serious health risks to koalas, disrupting feeding behaviour, inhibiting thermoregulation, and weakening the immune system.' They said the project team, in collaboration with researchers and veterinarians, would continue investigating 'the potential impact of heavy rainfall, as well as factors such as diet, nutrition, and gut microbiome on the success of future translocations'. The state Greens environment spokesperson, Sue Higginson, said the incident was 'deeply distressing' and sent 'a very cynical message that the government is focused on [a] high risk and failed koala program effort' while habitat destruction for development and logging continued. 'This koala translocation experiment has been a catastrophic failure and raises serious questions about how it happened,' she said. 'The control settings around this translocation experiment must now be brought into question and reviewed because it would appear they were flawed. 'It is deeply concerning that the government allowed this program in the circumstances and given the outcomes, it's clear they shouldn't have.' Carolyn Hogg, a professor of biodiversity and conservation at the University of Sydney, said wildlife translocation could be complex and the deaths were 'a really unfortunate event'. 'We do know unexpected weather events may cause pathogens to unexpectedly appear,' she said. Hogg said for NSW koala populations under pressure from habitat fragmentation and isolation, translocation projects were a management tool that could improve gene flow and genetic diversity. Valentina Mella is a senior lecturer in animal behaviour and conservation at the University of Sydney. Speaking generally, she said there were important scientific questions that should be considered before translocating wildlife into a new area. 'When you move an animal into a habitat that is considered suitable for that species but that species is not actually present, you have to ask yourself why,' she said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'You have to do a really thorough investigation of why the animal is absent.' In the case of koalas, she said one consideration should be if suitable food was available because they were specialist folivores – leaf eaters – that only ate particular types of leaves. The department said all of the animals underwent a veterinary assessment and were found to be healthy and chlamydia negative before the translocation. They said the project was developed in consultation with stakeholders, including traditional owners, researchers, conservation groups, landholders and government agencies. They said the koalas were closely monitored after their release using satellite and VHF (very high frequency) collars, 'in accordance with strict animal ethics and scientific licensing requirements'. 'The koalas were observed regularly changing trees, foraging, and producing scat of normal quality. All of these are healthy behaviours we would hope to see post translocation,' they said. They said two other recent translocation projects had taken place in the state. The first relocated koalas from the Upper Nepean State Conservation Area to a predator-free fenced area in Yiraaldiya National Park in western Sydney. All the koalas were alive and healthy, the department said. A second had commenced in the Northern Rivers region, where there is competition for limited food trees. To try to improve the welfare of koalas in the area, nine animals were translocated to nearby Bungawalbin National Park. The department said three of the koalas had since died, with likely causes being tree fall or predation. The remaining koalas appeared healthy. 'There are many examples of successful koala translocations in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Narrandera in NSW,' they said. 'Koala translocations are not a substitute for protecting koala habitat where healthy populations currently exist; both conservation actions have their role.' The NSW environment minister Penny Sharpe was unavailable for comment. Do you know more? Email
