After feeling feverish and unwell in her Adelaide Hills home in January 2015, Briony Klinberg’s parents took her to see several doctors in a bid to bring their daughter back to good health.
Tragically, none of these doctors were able to recognise that the infection ultimately causing this youngster’s organs to fail was actually herpes simplex virus.
As reported by News.com.au and according to Coroner Mark Johns, who handed down his findings on the cause of Briony’s death this week, doctors pick up on the herpes simplex virus symptoms as they didn’t have the opportunity to observe her continuously.
First of all, Briony was taken to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital where doctors found ulcers in her throat. She was sent home just one hour later.
The following day, she was taken to Mt Barker Hospital where she was another doctor, who came to his own medical conclusions.
Coroner Johns says that if Briony had been taken back to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, doctors would have been able to compare her condition across the two days, possibly picking up the virus.
“Such a comparison would likely have raised concerns and prompted further investigations,” he says, adding that he is in no way critical of Briony’s parents’ decision to get another opinion from another doctor.
However, when Briony finally returned to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, she had a seizure in the carpark and died from organ failure, caused by the herpes simplex virus, on January 18.
So, what is the herpes simplex virus?
“The herpes virus actually refers to a group of viruses including herpes simplex virus (the one referred to in the article) and related viruses such as cytomegalovirus (that can cause a rash and problems in unborn babies) and varicella-zoster virus (that causes chickenpox),” says Dr Grant Hill-Cawthorne, senior lecturer in the School of Public Health, at the University of Sydney.
“This group of viruses have the ability to stay in your body forever and appear again at any time. For herpes simplex virus there are two types: HSV1 and HSV2. Both can cause what we think of as ‘herpes'(for example, cold sores or genital sores) and they remain in your nerves for the rest of your life.”
“This virus can cause symptoms whenever your immune system is suppressed; people often get cold sores when they are stressed or tired.”
Can it be fatal?
“HSV can be dangerous and can cause death – usually when infants are infected during birth or if your immune system is very suppressed,” Dr Hill-Cawthorne continues.
“However, in about two people per million each year, the virus can cause encephalitis, where it travels to the brain and causes inflammation and damage.”
“Untreated, up to 70 per cent of people with HSV encephalitis will die; with antiviral treatment, this reduces to about 20 per cent. Therefore these can be quite dangerous viruses in rare circumstances.”
If you would like to learn more about the symptoms and treatments for the various strains of the herpes virus, visit Better Health Victoria’s website .
