Insect surprise in child's antibiotics
Sarah Davies took her nine-year-old daughter Danielle to hospital because she had a poorly ear, but she little did she know the cure would contain an earwig.
Sarah and Danielle, of 6th Avenue, north Hull, was surprised to find an earwig-type creature lurking at the bottom of her banana-flavoured antibiotic syrup.
She had been taken to Hull Royal by her Sarah, 34, when her ear became infected.
She had taken half the medicine before the insect was discovered.
Mrs Davies said: “I took Danielle to hospital a couple of weeks ago because she was really poorly.
“She had a lump behind her ear. The doctor said her gland was infected and they put her on antibiotics.
“She'd had almost half the bottle before we noticed there was a little black thing floating in the bottom.
“I looked at it closely and realised it was an earwig.
“I think it's a bit sick.
“It's a bottle of children's medicine and it's not supposed to have earwigs in it.”
David Corral, Chief Pharmacist at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said it would be impossible to tell where the insect came from.
He said: “It is impossible to ascertain if this insect was in the manufacturer's bottle, introduced at the dispensing stage or occurred some time afterwards.
“We have double checked for any signs of insects in our cap or bottle-storing areas and found no evidence of infestation, and we will be advising the manufacturers to do the same.
“We have also asked staff to be extra vigilant in all dispensing processes.”
17 Comments
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by Anon, Work
Monday, July 21 2008, 12:22PM
“I have never heard of a man named Sarah before.”
by Peter, Uig
Friday, July 18 2008, 7:10PM
“Wow, what powerful news HDM is compiling for us.
No-one can prove where it got in, so that's that. What kind of a brain dead moron gets in touch with the media with a story like this? And what kind of a brain dead rag prints it?”
by caz, hull
Friday, July 18 2008, 5:08PM
“yes why didn't she take her to the gp, no wonder you wait hours with broken bones when others clog up the system.think of the earwig as a bonus!”
by spongebob, pineapple under the sea
Friday, July 18 2008, 2:03PM
“lookin at the photo you wouldnt would you!”
by Jeff, Hull
Friday, July 18 2008, 1:43PM
“I think the hdm should stop earwigging on the phone everytime someones phones there newsdesk with a complaint about something or someone!”
by naked civil servant, hull
Friday, July 18 2008, 1:39PM
“totally agree lizzie. That why people have to wait hours in the childrens dept of a&e when this could have been dealt with by a normal surgery. Feel sorry for the poorly kid but its hardly newsworthy is it? All i can say is there isnt much happening in this corner of the world if thats the stories the HDM are putting in their comic...er I mean newspaper.”
by Lizzie, Hull
Friday, July 18 2008, 12:43PM
“Antibiotics for that age group are usually in powder format, and mixed with water by the chemist before dispensing. He then has to inspect the medicine to ensure that it's totally mixed, so I find it hard to believe this is a failure of the chemist. Incidentally, surely this kind of ailment should have been dealt with by the family GP, not the Accident and Emergency department.”
by Alex, Hull
Friday, July 18 2008, 12:36PM
“Well, whoopy doo! Someone's found an insect in something. You call this news HDM? What's next? Hair found in local man's beer? Get yourself down to the police station and find out about some petty criminals or something. There's got to be a whole load of stuff more interesting than someone trying to drum up some attention for themselves.”
by Mark, Hessle
Friday, July 18 2008, 12:32PM
“¿It's a bottle of children's medicine and it's not supposed to have earwigs in it.¿ I wonder if she worked that out all by herself? Genius!”
by PJMaybe, Willerby
Friday, July 18 2008, 12:31PM
“Oh, I'm a couple of hours late, Bill beat me to that one!”