The parents of a young Cork girl who died of invasive Group A Strep infection four years ago have claimed their daughter would still be alive if doctors had spotted the signs of the potentially fatal condition sooner.
In an emotional statement to the inquest, Ms Murphy said her family were “devastated, traumatised, shocked and overwhelmed and in disbelief” about Vivienne’s death after they were informed that it could have been avoided as Strep A is curable with an antibiotic. The inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard Vivienne first felt unwell on February 14, 2019 after coming home from school.
She said they returned to the SouthDoc clinic later that day where another doctor, Katie Frost, gave them the same advice and to contact their own GP after the weekend if she still had the same symptoms.Ms Murphy recounted how she had to carry her daughter in to see the family doctor, Christine Walsh-McCarthy, at the Millstreet Medical Centre on February 18, 2019 as Vivienne was unable to walk with the pain in her legs but the GP had claimed it was “just a viral rash.
When Ms Murphy contacted SouthDoc again the following day, she recalled Dr Leader said that the virus could take up to 10 days to clear. She recalled “all hell seemed to break loose” after doctors got the result of blood tests and they were informed that Vivienne was critically ill. By the time she and the rest of her family got to Temple Street, Ms Murphy said Vivienne was out of surgery but was critical as the infection had spread.