Boy's treatment was 'appropriate', inquest told

An independent medical expert told an inquest the treatment given to a five-year-old boy who died from invasive Strep A infection was "appropriate".

Jax Jefferys, from Waterlooville, Hampshire, died on 1 December 2022, the day after he was discharged from Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth with a diagnosis of influenza A.

Dr Campbell-Hewson said Jax's symptoms were "strongly consistent" with a viral infection rather than a more serious bacterial infection.

He said the hospital's assessment and management of Jax was "adequate" and "in keeping with standard clinical practice".

The expert, in a statement read by senior coroner Chris Wilkinson at Winchester Coroner's Court, also said a rash Jax had developed should have been recorded, but he did not believe it would have altered the diagnosis or treatment.

Campbell-Hewson said there was no heightened concern about invasive Strep A infection when Jax attended hospital and that guidance changed later during the outbreak.

He said NHS England later advised doctors to lower the threshold for prescribing antibiotics during the outbreak.

"It is likely, in my experience, that if Jax's initial presentation to the emergency department had been a few days later, it would have been treated with amoxicillin or penicillin, as the threshold for prescribing antibiotics... was substantially lowered in the course of December 2022," he said.

However, Campbell-Hewson said he could not say whether antibiotics would have prevented Jax's death.

Earlier in the inquest, jurors heard a nurse recorded a red rash on Jax's face, neck and back during his hospital attendance.

Emergency department doctor Dr Refat Parveen told the court she forgot to review the rash, saying it had "slipped my mind".

Jax died after collapsing while being driven back to hospital by his parents the following evening.

A post-mortem examination later concluded he died from Group A streptococcal sepsis.

The jury has now heard all the evidence in the case.

Senior coroner Chris Wilkinson is expected to begin summing up on Friday.

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