Nicole Williams, two, dies from strep A and sepsis as the number of cases of the virus spike

A family has been devastated by the sudden death of their two-year-old daughter from Streptococcus A – a virus that is rapidly spreading across Australia.

Paul and Olga Williams from Queensland took their daughter Nicole to the doctor when she developed a mild fever on February 21.

Her symptoms gradually got worse, her skin turned red and blotchy, and the toddler started vomiting and diarrhoea.

Nicole was rushed to hospital where she was diagnosed with pneumonia before going into cardiac arrest, with the two-year-old being resuscitated for over 40 minutes.

She died of septic shock and strep A just days after she first showed symptoms.

The distraught father, Mr. Williams, said his last words to his daughter were, “You’ll be fine.”

Tragically, the toddler’s infection was initially missed because she had tested positive for the flu.

The doctor had told them she had a viral infection and ‘antibiotics were not necessary’, but her condition rapidly deteriorated and she was rushed to Queensland Children’s Hospital.

“Her red skin turned into more blotchy… (she was) very pale, she started vomiting and started having diarrhoea,” Mr Williams told the Courier Mail.

When Nicole was taken to the hospital, she was put on three different oxygen masks. None of them raised her low oxygen saturation levels.

She was subsequently diagnosed with pneumonia before going into cardiac arrest, the Courier-Mail reported.

The young girl was given 41 minutes of CPR before being hooked up to an ECMO machine.

On Feb. 25, the two-year-old girl died of septic shock and strep A, a day her father says will haunt him for the rest of his life.

Paul and Olga Williams took their daughter Nicole to the GP when she had a mild temperature on February 21, but three days later she died of Strep A and sepsis (photo LR Paul, Nicole, Olga Williams)

“They asked me to stay in a family room while they intubated her… That moment will haunt me for the rest of my life but she was conscious and I told her right before I left her she should be fine ‘ said Mr Williams.

“I said I’ll be right back and that was a lie… that was the last time I saw her conscious.”

Strep A can cause serious illness with symptoms ranging from sore throat and fever to severe sepsis.

The infection is responsible for more than 163,000 deaths a year worldwide, with the pandemic believed to be indirectly responsible for a recent spike in cases.

This is because people are coming into contact with each other more often. Children are particularly vulnerable to the disease.

According to the National Surveillance System for Notifiable Diseases, there were more than 1000 serious invasive streptococcal infections in Australia in 2022.

The distraught father said his last words to his daughter were “you’ll be fine,” but that was the last time he saw her. The toddler’s case of strep A was originally missed because the toddler had tested positive for the flu

In 2022, two Victorian children died of complications following infection with strep A, while in December a NSW boy had his legs amputated after a case.

Mark Davies, senior lecturer in bacteriology at the University of Melbourne, said a new variant of strep A called M1UK has reached Australia and it is cause for concern.

“We need to be vigilant… regarding the identification of variants that we see entering Australia,” Davies told 7News.

Health authorities in the UK said the tension had led to the deaths of 30 children.