When her baby woke up he had a life threatening condition, she never heard of.

Have you heard of this potentially deadly skin disease?

For 21-year-old mother-of-two, Sian Nye-Harte it must have been the fright of her life.

It was a normal evening and she put her baby son to bed, along with his big sister.

But when one-year-old Rowan woke up his leg was covered in a rash unlike any she had ever seen.

As a young mother she would have been aware of the dangers of certain rashes – we all are – so she rushed him to hospital.

There she was told her baby son, Rowan had the life threatening skin infection staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome.

The little boy was immediately placed on antibiotics, doctors relieved she acted so quickly to bring him in.

Another warning for parents: The tragic death of a baby serves as a stark warning to us all.

Sian, from the UK,  has now shared her story on Facebook so that other parents can be aware of the danger of this skin infection.

Her post has been shared now nearly 40,000 times.

She wrote:

To all my "mummy & daddy" friends PLEASE SHARE this!

So Monday night my little boy went to bed perfectly fine Tuesday morning he woke up with this on his leg!!!! I took him straight to the doctors and got told to take him straight hospital! And was there for 4 days. When I got there they had no idea what they was dealing with until they run some tests when they come back it turns out he had staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome! Also know as ssss I've never heard or seen anything like this!

The doctors told me that it is caused from a viral bug getting into a crack/cut in the skin causing a skin infection. This skin infection happens to be the worst form you can get and if it's not treated straight away it can kill you because the bacteria can get into the bloodstream and cause your organs to fail!

This type of skin infection causes your skin to scald from the inside out! It's more common in younger children that have eczema, psoriasis, dry skin etc. I thought I would share this as I never knew such a thing existed until 5 days ago and I think other mums and dads should know about this! Luckily my little boy is now recovering after plenty of antibiotics and is on the mend! And it's quite scary to think something like that can develop that quick and turn out like that in such a short period of time! You might not have heard of staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome but you have probably heard of impetigo.

Impetigo is one of those childhood illnesses that you don’t tend to know much about until you have kids and then you know it intimately. Also known as school sores it is one of the most common childhood illnesses.

It is caused by a type of bacteria commonly found on human skin.

Well, staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome is a type of impetigo - Bullous Impetigo –  caused by the bacteria staphylococcus aureus.

Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome usually affects children under the age of five, and can be life threatening. In newborns it is called Ritter von Ritterschein disease 98% of cases occur in children under the age of 6.

Staphylococcus aureus also causes folliculitis, impetigo, cellulitis and abscesses.

The condition often begins with a fever, redness of the skin, and skin tenderness. There may be a sore throat or conjunctivitis but then large superficial blisters will develop which enlarge and rupture to give a scalded appearance much like the child has been burnt.

Children with severe SSSS may need to be transferred to a tertiary paediatric burn unit for multidisciplinary care. The disease is severely contagious, and causes unbearable pain.

Characteristics of the rash include (from DermNet):

• Tissue paper-like wrinkling of the skin is followed by the appearance of large fluid-filled blisters (bullae) in the armpits, groin and body orifices such as the nose and ears.

• Rash spreads to other parts of the body including the arms, legs and trunk. In newborns, lesions are often found in the diaper area or around the umbilical cord.

• Top layer of skin begins peeling off in sheets, leaving exposed a moist, red and tender area.

For a detailed video on SSSS watch this informative lecture here. Post continues after video. 

SSSS, while frightening is something that is treatable. One mother whose baby had an experience much like Rowan's shared her experience online writing:

“In the afternoon he woke from his nap screaming in so much pain. I looked and his vest was soaked through. His skin was so bright red and weeping all over, as the name suggest literally as if he had been placed in boiling water from the neck down. He had gotten much worse so i called the gp and took him straight down as he was so distressed and i couldn't stop him crying! The gp then referred us the the paediatric assessment unit as she though it was this scolded skin syndrome. When we got there it was confirmed and he was admitted. He was there for a week on antibiotics through and IV along with a drip for the first few days to stop him getting dehydrated. “

Sian wants to use her Facebook post to raise awareness about the condition so that other lives, like that of her sons can be saved.

For more information on SSSS go to Health Direct Australia.

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