Help, my child is sick with...something?

[colemomma]

I hope someone can help me out.  I have a 6 year old son who complained with his nose hurting then started running a high fever.  Doc said it was a sinus infection.  But his little nose is almost completely swollen shut on one side and it is so raw and bloody he can't stand for it to be touched.  He is also having a darker discharge from his nose.  Also he is getting bumps on his face that are painful and his little mouth is covered in blisters.  Does anyone have any idea what this could be?  Now my oldest son, who is 9, has started running a fever.  Please help!!

[Jessx3]

My husband stood up for his friends wedding.  The wedding was being held a couple of hours away.  He had to go down on a Fri. for the rehearsal and because we have three kids and were going to be spending Sat. night in the hotel as well, I opted for him to ride along with some of the groomsmen and I would drive up the following day.  He spent some time relaxing in the hot tub in the hotel on Sat. morning before the wedding.  He was alone and not in there very long.  A about a week later, I ended up with a vaginal bacterial infection.  After one night of intercourse with my husband, the next evening, I started having serious discomfort.  There was also a fever and discharging and swelling of my "area".  After seeing my OB, I was diagnosed with a bacterial infection.  She told me it is usually caused by inproper hygiene or intercourse with someone who has inproper hygiene.  I began to worry.  My husband and I are happily married with three children, however things happen.  He was alone and out of town with a group of guys most of them bachelors.  I didn't want to speculate, however, the thought of adultery crossed my mind.  I thought long and hard about what to say to him and how to handle the situation and was prepared for the worst.  After a long and grueling conversation, and even some arguing, we started talking about what he had done that weekend.  And we came up with it could very well have been something in the hot tub.  I called my OB the next day and asked her a few questions.  She agreed it was probably the hot tub, because bacteria grow in warm conditions.  My husband and I were both treated for infections and never ever use public hot tubs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sajonna]

And you don't need a cut to get sick. It gets in your ears, eyes, mouth & pores.

Kids are the worse about swalling water when they go under.

STAY OUT OF PUBLIC HOT TUBS.

I think they ought to just ban them all together because public ones never have someone watching them at all times they are open.

[colemomma]

Thanks for the info.  Believe me, we have learned our lesson about hot tubs.  My boys are just now recovering fully.  It's been a very long drawn out sickness.  The two boys who went under the water are the only ones who got sick.  To me that is no coincidence.  So I hope all mothers out there who read this will be very cautious in letting their children get in a hot tub.  One of my boys that got sick had a small cut in his nose from a baseball game and the other one that got sick had a small cut beside his mouth.  The first one's infection started in his nose and covered his mouth and nasal passages.  The other one's infection covered his mouth and went down his throat.  This has been one of the worst sicknesses I have ever dealt with.

[Sajonna]

I do pool maintance and also know about hot tubs (spas).  Spas are the hardest things to keep the chemicals correct in.  If you own your own, it is a little different because you know at all times exactly what level of chlorine you have in and are in complete control of who enters.  But I NEVER would ever use a public hot tub.  You do not know if the water temp is correct (this is the main culprit.)  Germs grow very fast in high temp waters.  It is so hard to maintain a correct level of chlorine (which kills the bad bacteria.)

You can post all the safety rules you want in these public places but there are always a few people who think they are the exception.  One big thing is: You should not enter a pool or spa with a bandaid on.  They can clog your pumps.  And who knows what bacteria is under that bandaid.  Second thing:  Kids like to sneak in, and some kids have accidents in the pool ( and the accident comes out of their shorts.) And I am not talking liquid accident here.  If the solid accident comes out, and they just remove it (or it gets sucked into the skimmer), there is really NO TEST to do to check.  You need to highly chlorinate the spa, get the temp down, and then the chlorine level back. Most kids will not admit if they had this accident in the spa.  If this same thing happens in a pool, you shock it with chlorine too BUT you don't have that water temp to deal with.  Still takes time.

Best advice: Never use a public spa.  Get a hotel room with a bath jaccuzzi--you KNOW that is clean fresh water.

Hope your son gets better soon.

[LAR614]

Wow, sounds like there is a connection all right. Sorry to hear about your other boy-hope they both recover quickly. Your warning is very timely-I was just searching for a vacation cabin with a hot tub to stay in next month. Maybe we'll skip that!

[colemomma]

Hey, just another quick update.  One of my twins now has this thing.  This twin and my six year old were the two that went under water in the hotel hot tub.  My husband, the other twin and myself got in the hot tub too, but we didn't put our heads under water.  I am convinced this had something to do with their outbreaks.  So my advice to anyone with small children is to never, ever let them put their heads under water in a hot tub.  I've always heard these horror stories about people getting sick from hotel hot tubs and now I have my own, much to my dismay.
Thank you for your prayers and concern.  God bless and have a great day!

[LAR614]

Oh, poor little guy! I've never heard of anything like that but then there is always something new to learn. I hope he recovers quickly and that your oldest doesn't have it! Thanks for the update-I was wondering how it had all turned out for you.
Good luck!

[colemomma]

Hello, just wanted to give you an update on my little guy.  Took him to a different doctor this morning and his diagnosis is a "primary fever blister infection"  I have never heard of such a thing, but let me just tell you it is some nasty stuff!!  He can't even eat anything because his mouth is sore with blisters, on his tongue...everywhere!  When he wakes up in the  morning his teeth have been crusted with blood where his gums are bleeding.  His nasal passages are covered with lesions and running and he has about 5 blisters on his face, one that is on his eye lid.  His lips are swollen to about twice the normal size.  He is miserable.  They told me to continue the antibiotics and prescribed him a bacterial ointment.  He is not allowed to be in any sunlight.  They said that most people only have one fever blister either come up on their lip or in their nose, but his is a "primary" infection and they said it is a severe one.  A few days before he started showing symptoms of a fever he had a baseball game and actually got hit in the nose with the ball.  His doctor said that that could have triggered this outbreak.  They said it could have opened up a small cut in his nose and the virus just took hold.
Thank you so much for your prayers, they are greatly appreciated.  The good Lord is always in control!!!  God bless!!

[LAR614]

He will be in my prayers tonight-I really hope they are able to figure that out. Was your 9 year old in the hot tub too and does he also have the swollen nose/rash/blisters? There are a lot of harsh chemicals that are used to clean those things?

Something I thought of after I posted although your kids seem old for it-hand, foot, and mouth disease has blisters on the throat, mouth (inside and out) and often bumps or blisters on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet-it's highly contagious and has a high fever with it but my kids had it several times without any ill effects afterwards. They were pretty miserable while they had it though. Doesn't really cover the swollen nose except that it does cause congestion like a bad cold-in fact the parents might get it but only have what looks like a cold from it.  

Hope they are better soon!

[colemomma]

Thank you for your info.  I am getting another doctor's opinion because my little guy is really sick.  I was suspicious of the sinus infection diagnosis because the doctor didn't even do a strep test on him. I don't think he has stuck anything up his nose and he had the blisters, etc. before he started taking the antibiotics.  What truly concerned my husband and I was that we were on vacation at a hotel with a hot tub and he had been playing in it the night before he started complaining with a sore nose.  Please remember him in your prayers.  God bless!

[LAR614]

I'm just a parent like you, but is it possible that he: 1. was bitten by something (spider?) and is having an allergic reaction 2. has something stuck in his nose-an object that he put up there out of curiosity or a dare 3. Has been in poison ivy/oak or kudzu 4. has strep/scarlet fever, chicken pox, or measles 5. is having an allergic reaction to whatever antibiotic the doc gave you for the sinus infection?

Anyway I would get a second doctor's opinion-I've been through a lot of sinus infections with everyone in my house and never run across the rash/blisters that you are experiencing.

Good luck and God bless