A 4-year-old girl in the UK contracted deadly infection after trying on new shoes without wearing socks last month.

Diagnosed With Sepsis

Sienna Rasul fell sick a day after she had gone to a store and tried on different shoes while barefoot. She had to be brought to the hospital when her condition worsened and was eventually diagnosed with sepsis, a potentially deadly complication.

Doctors said that the bacteria in the shoes are responsible for the girl's illness. They said that bacteria possibly entered the child's body through an open wound on her foot.

Warning To Parents

The girl's mother, Jodie Thomas, shared images of her child's foot on social media and warned other parents of the possible dangers of trying on new shoes barefooted. She urged parents to make sure that their children have their socks on when trying on new shoes.

Thomas said that her child normally would have her socks on but it is summertime, so the child was wearing sandals. She thinks that the shoes the child liked may have been tried on by other children and that is how Sienna picked up the infection.

"For all parents please put socks on your children while trying new shoes on. I'm guilty [of] not doing it for mine and myself, but this can be the outcome; infection spreading throughout the body," she posted on Facebook. "You don't don't know whose feet have been in them beforehand!"

Doctors at the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil initially thought they would have to operate the girl but they managed to drain all the pus from girl's leg. They also said that the antibiotic drip will do the job.

Sienna spent five days in the hospital. The child has since been allowed to go home but she is still monitored.

Sepsis

Sepsis may occur as the body's response to an infection. The immune system provides protection from illnesses and infection but it can also go into overdrive in response to an infection.

The life-threatening condition develops when the chemicals that the immune system releases into the bloodstream to fight infection cause inflammation instead. Severe cases of sepsis may lead to septic shock, which can be fatal.

Figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that there are more than 1.5 million cases of sepsis in the United States per year. The infection kills more than 250,000 Americans annually.