Canberra, Australia

In a rarely-heard medical situation, an infection in the wisdom tooth of a 23-year-old girl turned deadly for her. 

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Caitlin Alsop suddenly started seeing a rash on her face time and again for some months which was a sign that something was not right with her body.

“I went to a couple of doctors but I didn’t really think there was anything going on and then I ended up with some flu-like symptoms,” said Alsop, while speaking to news.com.au.

The girl said that she started experiencing fever, sore ears and a sore throat. After some days, when she eventually felt better, she went to dinner with a friend.

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While she was eating, it felt to her as if she had bitten her tongue and after a few hours passed, her tongue got swollen and she began to drool.

Alsop started facing difficulty in breathing and talking and was also not able to swallow the antihistamine - which is given for treating allergic reactions - after which she went to the hospital.

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In the next 45 minutes, the doctors diagnosed her with anaphylaxis and administered her two shots of adrenaline. 

However, her situation worsened and she started to fall in and out of consciousness. At the same time, a severe blue and red rash also developed on the upper half of the body.

Doctors try to resolve a 'medical mystery'

Alsop was shifted to Gold Coast University Hospital where she was referred to as a “medical mystery” because of her unique case. 

The girl's tongue also started to blacken and the doctors discussed tracheostomy and necrotising fasciitis.

Eventually, the doctors performed an endotracheal intubation and shifted her to the intensive care unit. 

She complained that her skin was severely burned after which an anaesthetist suspected that the girl was suffering from ludwig angina - in which a life-threatening cellulitis of the soft tissue develops on the floor of the mouth and neck.

The doctors carried out a CT scan of the affected area and eventually found the root cause of the problem which was her wisdom tooth that had been infected and almost killed her.

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“I had no pain, no symptoms and this nearly killed me overnight. It’s absolutely crazy. I didn’t know that an infection could be so serious. Like so many young people, I had no idea an infection could lead to this. I was walking around and then I was literally burning from the inside out in the ICU as a medical mystery," the girl said.

After finding out the root cause, the doctors carried out an emergency surgery on the girl and extracted her wisdom tooth, which was also crushing her jugular vein.

The girl was in a coma for nine days. “I felt like a child when I woke up, because I was just so disorientated. I’ve had such strong drugs. I couldn’t really eat, couldn’t really talk, and it was just a very interesting journey," Alsop said.

(With inputs from agencies)