It started as painful ulcers in Billy's mouth and throat before his symptoms quickly reached fever pitch.
Billy's mum Mel Medus became increasingly concerned when her six-month-old boy became uncharacteristically unsettled and grizzly.
When his temperature reached 40 degrees, Billy was admitted to hospital where he was diagnosed with parainfluenza. Human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs) are a group of illnesses that cause a range of respiratory infections, most commonly in babies and children.
Billy was treated and discharged to continue his recovery at home. But in the following days, Billy was off his milk, vomiting, had a persistent high temperature and his lips turned blue.
Mel said frequent trips to the local doctor and hospital provided no clarity on when his symptoms would ease.
Image: Billy was brought into hospital a number of times with flu-like symptoms
"Billy's original urine test came back inconclusive so it was assumed that his body was simply taking a while to recover from the flu," she said.
"It wasn't until I was changing his nearly-empty nappy one day that I noticed a distinctively strong odour. It was a big red flag, because Billy's nappy was smelling full even though there were only a few drops of urine there.
"Billy was just so unwell and uncomfortable and I knew we had to get another urine test to rule out anything else going on."
Image: Billy cuddling with his dad Josh while in hospital
The additional test confirmed that Billy had a urinary tract infection (UTI), which had occurred at the same time as his parainfluenza. UTIs are very common and occur when bacteria enters the urinary tract and multiply.
Billy, now 18 months, was given both intravenous antibiotics and a course of oral antibiotics and made a full recovery.
Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) has led a new study that has established a clear list of traits that indicate a more serious UTI infection in children and adolescents, known as a RUPERT score. The list includes symptoms such as fever, vomiting, experiencing chills and abnormalities within the urinary tract or bladder.
MCRI Associate Professor Penelope Bryant said the non-invasive, individualised approach was designed to pick up which children had serious infections and needed to be admitted, while reducing unnecessary hospitals stays for others.
Image: Billy in July 2024, a healthy 18-month-old.
"A six-month-old can't tell you what's wrong," Mel said. Having Billy's diagnosis confirmed was very heartening, it meant that his infection could be treated properly and he could finally start to feel well again.
"I am grateful that there is a new tool to establish whether a UTI might be present as not every parent knows what signs to look for or which tests to ask for, especially if there are multiple illnesses at once."
Learn more about MCRI's work in clinical infection research.
