Back pain in a previously healthy teenager
Felicity Fitzgerald1, Julia Howard, Fiona Bailey
1Department of Paediatrics, North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK. Flicfitzgerald@hotmail.com
None:
We present the case of a 14-year-old previously healthy boy who presented to his general practitioner with back pain and fever after rugby training. He was initially treated for suspected discitis but during the course of his admission he rapidly deteriorated and developed severe necrotising pneumonia. He was intubated, ventilated and transferred to a paediatric intensive care unit. Panton-Valentine leukocidin Staphylococcus aureus was suspected and subsequently identified in blood cultures.
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