Pippa White ‘probably' died of uncommon bacterial infection, inquest hears
A senior official who oversees the emergency transport of critically ill children in New South Wales believes two-year-old Pippa Mae White's septic shock death was the result of an 'absolutely devastating' bacterial infection, an inquest has heard.
Kathryn Browning Carmo, an associate professor in neonatology and acting director of the Newborn and Paediatric Emergency Transport Service team (Nets), on Tuesday told an inquest into Pippa's death the young girl likely had Group A Strep.
Pippa died on 13 June 2022, two months before her third birthday, after doctors and nurses at the hospitals in Cowra and Orange assumed she had an acute viral illness.
The deputy state coroner, Joan Baptie, is examining whether her death was preventable and whether she received appropriate medical care.
Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email
Giving evidence at the inquest, Browning Carmo said that from late 2022 until early 2024, there was an increase in cases of invasive group A streptococcus (iGAS). During that period, 77 cases were referred to Nets and four of these children died, she said.
Browning Carmo said although Pippa's blood was not tested for the disease, she thought the girl 'probably' had it.
The cases and the fatalities recorded by Nets were documented in a paper published last week in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, which said 40% of the patients displayed clinical signs of septic shock.
Only five cases of iGAS had been detected in the five years before late 2022, Browning Carmo told the inquest.
Browning Carmo said iGAS was an 'absolutely devastating illness' that was much more aggressive than other bacterial infections of this nature and which resulted in 'catastrophic' cases of sepsis, a potential fatal inflammatory response to an infection.
The inquest previously heard that Pippa was presented to Cowra hospital about 2pm on 12 June 2022 with a fever, vomiting, and a heart rate of 171 beats per minute, considered in the 'red zone' for sepsis.
She did not have a blood test until nearly 4am on 13 June, after she was transferred to Orange hospital, which revealed she had a serious infection.
She was administered antibiotics and given a chest X-ray, which showed she had pneumonia that had caused a 'complete whiteout' of her left lung.
Browning Carmo on Tuesday told the inquest she had seen cases of children with iGAS who appeared to be 'very comfortable' only to have their lungs very quickly fill with fluid.
'They could have no pleural effusion to complete whiteout within hours,' she said. 'It was an absolutely devastating illness.'
Sign up to Breaking News Australia
Get the most important news as it breaks
after newsletter promotion
The inquest previously heard doctors at Orange called the Nets team just after 6.10am to take Pippa to Westmead children's hospital. A plan was made at 8.30am to put Pippa in an induced coma and intubate her before her chest was drained.
But this didn't occur immediately because the operating theatre was busy, the inquest heard. Because of shift changes and weather, the Nets team didn't arrive until 10.10am.
Pippa never left Orange – she suffered two cardiac arrests and died just after 1pm.
Her parents, Annah and Brock, are pushing for reforms to the way possible paediatric sepsis cases are treated and to empower families of sick children to escalate their concerns.
The paediatric nurse in charge of Pippa's care in Orange, Roslyn Sadler, on Tuesday told the inquest she could recall Annah telling her she had asked for her daughter's blood to be tested when she was in the hospital's emergency department.
The executive director of nursing at the Western NSW local health district, Associate Prof Adrian Fahy, told the inquest it was 'quite remarkable' hospital staff didn't investigate the possibility of sepsis.
'Sepsis training had been really quite prevalent across NSW health for a number of years,' he said. 'I was concerned to see sepsis hadn't been considered and the sepsis pathway hadn't been referred to.'
The inquest continues.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Radio star's fears for his wife's frozen eggs as he reveals they are being held at same Monash IVF clinic that transferred the wrong embryo into a Melbourne woman
Radio star Jase Hawkins has revealed his personal connection to a shock embryo mix-up this week. Fertility company Monash IVF admitted that it had transferred the wrong embryo into a Melbourne woman - the second bungle admitted by the company in as many months. Speaking about ordeal on his breakfast show Jase & Lauren on Wednesday, he said he and his wife Lou's third child Archie, three, was conceived through Monash IVF and her remaining embryos are still stored at the facility. Jase, 43, admitted he was shaken up by the news. 'We've still got embryos in the freezer there, and you know, not that we're planning to have other kids,' he said. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'I'm not trying to be dramatic, but I'm like, I don't trust them sitting in that freezer at the moment. He said the couple have now been forced to fast-track a conversation about having more children. 'It just made me think last night, well, I think we need to speed up that conversation about what we want to do with them (embryos), because at the moment, I don't trust the current situation,' he said. Jase added that his heart goes out to anyone who is going through the same thing. 'As someone who's gone through it, it was such a personal experience. And whatever company you go through for something like there's that trust that you have,' he said. 'Just yesterday was just that weird, just that icky feeling in your guts going.' 'It's overwhelming enough, right?' his co-host Lauren Phillips said. 'And there would be a lot of people who have dealt with with Monash IVF that will be feeling very nervous. 'I've got lots of friends who have frozen embryos that aren't sure if they'll use them, but they're just not willing to take them off ice.' In a statement to the ASX on Tuesday, Monash IVF said a patient at their Clayton clinic was supposed to receive an embryo from her partner as they sought to have a baby, but instead had her own embryo transferred to her on June 5. It has launched an investigation and apologised to the couple involved. It follows Monash IVF's admission in April that a mistake at its Brisbane clinic led to a Queensland mother unknowingly delivering another couple's baby. Jase and wife Lou share three children - Archie, Huddy, six, and Felix, eight. Speaking about the couple's IVF journey back in 2021, Jase revealed a very embarrassing encounter with a fan at the fertility clinic. Speaking to his then KIIS FM co-host Polly 'PJ' Harding, he explained that he and Louise had booked an appointment to get his sperm count checked in case they ever wanted more children in the future. 'I knew I was going to be nervous doing it there, so Lou rang and asked if I could do it at home,' he said, referring to gathering a sperm sample. Jase then joked he felt 'like an ambulance driver' as he rushed to the clinic to deliver his semen within a specified time limit. 'I finally got there, walked in and the waiting room was packed,' he said. 'I kept my back to everyone and I'm waiting at the window holding my brown paper bag.' Putting his head in his hands, Jase continued: 'The only bag we had in the house was an old party gift bag, so I'm sitting there with a bag of little stars and balloons.' After discreetly handing the bag to a nurse, Jase was confronted by someone else in the waiting room just as he was about to make his exit. 'It was just at that point I turned around, I put my hand on the door to leave and one guy leans on his door and says, "Hey, big fan, love the show",' he said.
The Sun
12 hours ago
- The Sun
Horror moment Qantas worker plunges 20ft from plane's airbridge fracturing spine & left with collapsed lung
THIS is the horrifying moment a Qantas workers falls 20ft down from a plane's airbridge onto the rock-hard tarmac - leaving her in critical condition. Customer experience supervisor Olivia Hristovska, 51, dropped from a huge height as she was peeking through viewing windows in the wall of an aerobridge. 5 5 5 Her harrowing drop, which left her with a fractured spine and fighting for her life, was recorded on May 3 at Sydney Airport. She also suffered a broken clavicle and a collapsed lung, before she was placed in an induced coma. In the shocking footage, the staff member is seen approaching the gaps in the aerobridge walls with her back hunched over. As she creeps closer, she is unaware of the fact there is a gaping hole between the floor and the wall. She then takes a step too close, and takes a horror fall down. Her co-worker looks absolutely baffled as he approaches the gap and realises where the other member of staff has gone. Olivia's daughters Monique and Sienna revealed this week they found out about their mum's accident through doctors and the media. They claimed that Qantas were yet to inform them of their mum's horrifying accident. Monique, 27, also revealed her mum has since been discharged from hospital - but is still suffering life-changing damages. The heartbroken daughter told Nine News: "Bones can heal, but the brain… you don't know. She's lost her identity." Both Monique and Sienna are currently acting as full-time carers for their mum. Monique previously told the Daily Mail Australia she hadn't left her mum's side since the traumatic accident. She said: "We feel it's important the full human impact of this incident is understood. "Not just the event itself, but the long-term effects on her body, mind, and our family." The two daughters are now pleading for more information about the accident to be revealed, after they claimed they had been left in the dark. Olivia is believed to have fallen through an opening where the shutter wall of the aerobridge came loose from its tracks. She was rushed to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney's inner west before being placed in an induced coma. A friend said of her condition at the time: "She has bleeding on the brain and a broken collarbone, broken ribs, and probably a broken pelvis. "She fell sideways, then backwards, and hit her head. She is not breathing on her own yet. What an absolute tragedy." Olivia had been working with Qantas for 14 years, according to her LinkedIn profile. A fellow Qantas employee posted on social media that staff working at the airport at the time of the horrific fall had been "traumatised" by the accident. Safework NSW confirmed that investigations into the tragic incident had started and were still underway - but said that the probe could take two years to complete. Sydney Airport told Daily Mail Australia its aerobridges were frequently inspected and serviced under a "scheduled systematic preventative maintenance program". 5
The Guardian
13 hours ago
- The Guardian
Swing time: experts weigh in on TikTok's kettlebell challenge
We've all seen the headlines around the importance of strength training. But if you're not a regular gym goer, it can feel intimidating to know where to begin. What is the difference between sets and reps? How many should you do? What if you don't want to turn into the Hulk? The latest viral fitness trend of doing 100 kettlebell swings a day for 30 days might seem like a straightforward way in. TikTokers' videos showing them doing the challenge seem to have struck a chord, racking up millions of views, and promising the regime can flatten your stomach, make your glutes stronger and help with back pain. But experts warn people – especially beginners – to treat the trend with caution. While they encourage people of all ages to start strength training, for some, doing 100 kettlebell swings a day might be an 'injury waiting to happen'. Kettlebell training has been shown to increase muscle mass, which makes your bones stronger, and has been shown in some cases to help reduce fat mass as well as improve back and neck pain, Dr Kim Way, an exercise physiologist and lecturer at Deakin University, says. However, those studies have not assessed doing 100 kettlebell swings a day – typically they have examined some form of kettlebell exercises two to three times a week, Way said. 'There's certainly a lot of difference in … the amount of stress that's being placed on the body, in terms of exercising every day versus having some recovery to allow for the body to essentially adapt,' Way said. A/Prof Justin Keogh, an exercise scientist at Bond University, said the health benefits also depended on the weight of kettlebell used. A heavier weight will help increase strength, muscle power and mass, while doing more repetitions with fewer rest periods will improve strength and endurance, may reduce body fat, and can have cardiovascular health benefits, he said. Kettlebell swings can be advantageous because you have to coordinate different upper and lower body segments and it mirrors the movement patterns that are 'more similar to what life throws at us,' Keogh said. Doing 100 kettlebell swings a day carries the risk of 'going a little bit too hard, too early', Keogh says. 'The chance that your hamstrings, lower back, forearms, etc, are going to feel really tight the next three or four days … is pretty high, and then you might not want to do any exercise over those next couple of days.' Keogh encourages people to start strength training carefully and gradually intensify their workouts in order to minimise their chance of what's known as delayed onset muscle soreness, which occurs when muscles that haven't been used to the level of exertion get quite sore for several days post-exercise. Way also agrees 100 kettlebell swings is 'quite a lot of swinging', especially if done every day. 'What I see with trends like this is that you're getting people excited about an exercise, which is great … but exposing people, especially if they haven't had any exposure to an exercise, that's just an injury waiting to happen because you haven't had the time to allow your body to adapt to the muscle stress, and the joint stress, that potentially this exercise will be placing on the system,' they said. Way is also concerned people might not be developing the correct technique. 'While the kettlebell swing might not necessarily look like a super complex movement – and compared to other exercises, it might not be – but even if you've just got a little part that's a bit wrong, it can put yourself into an area of potential injury.' They encourage people to find resources to ensure that they're using the correct technique. Way also advises if a person is new to exercise, they should listen to their body because if they start to fatigue, 'this is where technique can really quickly break down' and make injury more likely. Our genes largely determine the maximum size and strength of our bones, which is what's called 'peak bone mass', but exercise can also influence whether we reach our full bone mass potential by the age of 25-30. People generally begin to lose bone mass from the age of around 40 onwards. Keogh says it's better to begin resistance training earlier because then your muscle and bone mass will reach a higher peak. 'But again, we do know that regardless of the age that you start resistance training, you will get benefits compared to those people who [aren't].' Way says that types of exercise like yoga and pilates, which require us to use our body weight as a form of resistance, are 'a great way' to get into resistance training. However, people should keep in mind that if they use body weight exercises for their main form of resistance training there probably is a 'ceiling effect' once you are strong with your own body weight. Then using external weights – whether at the gym or finding weights at home through using cans of food or filling backpacks – can be helpful to get some resistance. Way emphasises 'it doesn't need to be a lot' – sometimes the big fear people have is that to do weight training they have to emulate bodybuilders online who are training for two or three hours each time. 'It actually can be pretty simple,' Way said. You can just strip it down, allocating five to eight exercises targeting your main muscle groups (your chest muscles, back muscles and leg muscles), and doing two to three sets, anywhere between eight and 15 repetitions. 'When you're trying to get into exercise, the best form of movement is always going to be the one that you enjoy. Resistance training or weight training is definitely a great one, because it gives you a really big host of benefits,' Way says. Natasha May is Guardian Australia's health reporter Antiviral is a fortnightly column that interrogates the evidence behind the health headlines and factchecks popular wellness claims What health trend do you want examined? Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian.
