Helen Edwards initially experienced flu-like symptoms, fever, aches, fatigue, and nausea on September 5 last year. A GP suspected a urine infection (UTI) and prescribed antibiotics, which did not improve her condition. She then became confused, disoriented, and behaved strangely, with her condition worsening.
According to The Independent - UK News, Jane Richards described her mother going into the toilet thinking it was her office and using a notepad as if it were a phone. Helen Edwards was admitted to A&E at Ysbyty Bronglais in Aberystwyth, where she experienced severe confusion, loss of coordination, and increasing drowsiness. After a 10-hour wait at A&E, she was sent home and told her behavior could be delirium from a UTI, according to major media reports.
She had gone into the toilet thinking it was her office, and then was using a notepad and pressing it as if it was a phone.
She was taken back to A&E a day later when found shaking and confused in bed, given IV antibiotics, and kept in hospital, major media reports indicate. A consultant ordered a CT scan a week after Helen Edwards first saw her GP, which revealed brain inflammation, and she was diagnosed with viral encephalitis on September 12. Encephalitis is an uncommon but serious inflammation of the brain, with one in five cases proving fatal.
8 billion people under 50 globally, or 67% of the world's population. Awareness of encephalitis remains dangerously low, with 77% of people globally not knowing what it is. Antiviral treatment for encephalitis within 48 hours can reduce the risk of severe symptoms, major media reports state.
If someone is behaving strangely, if they’ve got flu-like symptoms, medics just assume a lot of the time, with older people particularly, that it is a UTI.
According to The Independent - UK News, Jane Richards described that if someone is behaving strangely with flu-like symptoms, medics often assume it is a UTI, especially in older people. She wants to ensure everyone, especially medical staff, knows the symptoms of encephalitis and stresses that time is of the essence. Helen Edwards now struggles to make new memories, no longer recognizes her home, and cannot navigate familiar spaces.