Grandmother Denetta Cox’s intuition saves grandchildren from chronic illness

The prevalence of a deadly illness in the Kimberley region almost changed the life of a girl — but doctors are hopeful the youngster’s grandmother’s intuition about a persistent cough has saved her from an irreversible disease. According to Telethon research, more than one in 10 children across four remote Kimberley communities has protracted bacterial bronchitis, a condition that can lead to progressive and life-shortening lung disease. PBB is a low-grade bacterial infection on the inside of the airways that is typically characterised by a chronic wet cough. Over the past three years, Telethon Kids Institute and Perth Children’s Hospital clinician-researchers Andre Schultz and Pam Laird have been working with Kimberley communities to raise awareness about PBB. “By the time the children were coming to see us in our specialists’ clinics it (the illness) was quite far down the track and we wanted to try and nip the problem in the bud early to prevent lung disease taking hold,” Mrs Laird said. “You can’t fix what people don’t know about, so it was about shedding a light on the problem.” The duo have been able to pick up 40 unknown cases of wet cough in kids in just four communities — two of the cases being La’Arryarnah (LaLa) Cox, 7, and her little brother, Heath, 4. The children’s grandmother, Denetta Cox is working alongside Dr Schultz and Mrs Laird in developing culturally appropriate health information and helping raise awareness. Despite her history working in the health industry, Mrs Cox said she knew “nothing” about wet cough before the team came to the Kimberley region. She became concerned about her granddaughter after learning about it. “I knew something was wrong with La’Arryarnah because she wouldn’t stop coughing at night,” she said. “It’s not normal for a kid to keep coughing when she’s sleeping, something might be wrong with her.” Her two grandchildren now live in Broome and are both on the road to recovery. “We diagnosed (La’Arryarnah) early in what could potentially be a long-term disease or chronic disease and we hope that we’ll be able to reverse the changes that have happened in the lungs,” DrSchultz said. “There were more than 40 little lungs that have gotten got healthier as a result of the combined work we've been doing in the Kimberley,” she said. A wet cough experienced by a child for more than four weeks can be a sign of underlying infection, families are advised to get medical attention if the cough stays longer than four weeks.