Parents urged to look out for simple mark on kids which is 'warning sign of sepsis'

Your child's health is one of the most important things to you if you're a parent , and one mum and influencer has shared a warning sign of sepsis that all parents should be aware of when it comes to their child's wellbeing . Samantha Silver, who boasts 87,300 followers on Instagram , took to the site to share a story about her son Leo. The post started with overlay text which read, 'This is something that every parent should know...' The influencer said she decided to share a post about the situation as her 'inbox had been flooded' with messages from other parents who didn't know about the medical symptom after she shared details on her Instagram story. Samantha said things all started when Leo got a "regular, normal, rather boring graze" on his elbow at the playground at school. She said the school nurse cleaned and dressed it and she changed the plaster herself that night. "All rather normal and boring," she wrote. However, on the Friday night, Leo said his armpit ached and Samantha said she "assumed he was trying to delay bedtime" so she gave him Calpol and sent him to bed. However, on the Saturday morning, Leo said his arm was aching again after he played padel, however the pain wasn't significant enough to stop him hanging out with friends or going to a party. "He had no fever, he was absolutely fine in himself," she wrote. However, Leo came back at 5pm that night and complained again about his arm. When Samantha lifted it, she said a red line travelling from his elbow up to his armpit. "The red line was our warning sign," she said. Samantha said she'd seen somewhere that a red line could be a sign of sepsis, so she drove Leo straight to A&E where he was immediately admitted. She wrote: "Red streaks spreading from a wound, bite or sting are lymphangitis, a medical emergency singling that a bacterial infection is spreading through the lymphatic system and can quickly lead to sepsis. "These streaks typically run toward nearby lymph nodes (armpit or groin) and can move rapidly." Luckily, Samantha said they caught it in Leo's case, and after an IV of antibiotics and one week course of oral antibiotics, he was absolutely fine. However, she said if they had left it any longer, he wouldn't have been. Concluding her post, she wrote: "Be aware of the red line." Following up in the caption, Samantha wrote: "Moving this to the grid because it’s so important to be aware of,If you didn’t know, now you do. Let your friends and family know too." People have been spreading the post for other parents to see, with it racking up more than 163,000 likes so far. TV host and author Fearne Cotton commented on the post, writing: "Gosh that’s scary! Reposted! Really useful to know. Hope he is ok. Thanks for sharing Sam." While someone else wrote: "Honestly I had no idea about this - even as a medical student. Thank you so much for sharing and hope you’re all doing ok." A third chimed in: "A really great example of parental intuition coupled with knowledge. Absolutely, a red line spreading from a wound can be a sign that an infection is spreading through the lymphatic system. Really well done for acting quickly and I’m so glad he’s recovered well."