Briony Klingberg was a happy, healthy and strong 10 year old. Until one day she became sick, with the only visible symptom being ulcers in her mouth.
She complained that they were painful and was having trouble swallowing. Her mom Bridget was worried and decided she needed immediate medical care.
In just a few days, she took her daughter to several different doctors but all of them failed to diagnose the Australian youngster correctly. Then tragedy hit.
“She didn’t eat her tea, Briony loved her food so we knew she wasn’t well,” Bridget said, according to ABC.
A doctor at their local Adelaide hospital diagnosed a virus or infection, prescribed her medication and asked to see her the next day. At that visit, he decided she was slightly better.
“Everyone kept sending us home so we thought she couldn’t be that sick,” Briony’s mom said, according to Daily Mail. “You trust that if she’s sick enough, they would say she needs to stay in.”
Then another doctor thought she might have glandular fever and gave her antibiotics. He took a blood test and because the results were “odd” he told her parents to take her to hospital.
Herpes simplex virus
But it was too late for little Briony who was so sick she collapsed outside the emergency department and died while in intensive care the next day, just a week after getting sick.
A liver biopsy revealed widespread necrosis from herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection.
One doctor told a hearing into Briony’s death that he thought the small ulcers in her mouth were not “outstandingly unusual.” Meanwhile, the herpes virus was causing her organs to shut down.
Mouth ulcers aren’t contagious and usually go away within one to two weeks. However, if you get a canker sore that is large or extremely painful, or if it lasts for a long time without healing, you should seek the advice of a doctor, according to Healthline.com
Please share the article so that others can be aware of the symptoms and seek medical help. No one should die because of this.
