'Eczema drug gave my daughter her childhood back'

When 10-year-old Hollie's eczema led to her being treated in hospital for septicaemia her parents thought they might lose her - but what followed was the chance to take part in a drug trial which they say gave her back her childhood.

Hollie was diagnosed with the painful skin condition as a toddler, and for years suffered breakouts which left her in intense pain, her skin inflamed with open sores that left her struggling to open her hands or smile.

Her mum, Becki, said she would spend hours dressing her wounds, but at night she would be scratching in her sleep.

"She'd just rip bandages off scratching, it was horrendous," she said.

Following her hospital admission, Hollie was accepted for the trial of a new drug at Sheffield Children's Hospital.

The trial of the drug - the name of which is not yet being disclosed due to trial controls - involved fortnightly injections, which the family could administer at home.

Hollie said despite more eczema breakouts, her condition is not as bad as it was before.

"I'm still happy because it's not worse like it used to be, so I'm feeling good about it," she said.

Becki said her daughter's skin eruptions developed more significantly after the age of two.

"It's life-changing, a condition that really does take over," she said.

Hollie's dad, Liam, said: "It was relentless. At one point, she ended up in hospital for 10 days with septicaemia.

"She was so poorly that we thought we might lose her."

Becki said Hollie "can smile again" after the drug trial.

"It's given her a new lease of life, it's given us a new lease of life because every night I was bandage-wrapping her.

"She had wet wraps, dry wraps, she had to soak in the the bath."

Now, she said, a daily moisturiser was all that was needed.

Injections of the trial drug stopped in December.

Since then, Hollie has had a few breakouts, which have been treated with a different drug which has been fully approved.

Professor Mike Cork, consultant dermatologist at Sheffield Children's Hospital, said such new drugs were known as biologics.

"They actually tackle the underlying disease process, right at the heart of what's gone wrong, and they put it right," he said.

"It's not just suppressing the end point of a disease, and that's why they're very effective, and it's also why they have very few side effects.

"We are incredibly proud that through research at Sheffield Children's we can offer hope, access to pioneering treatments, and the chance for children like Hollie to simply enjoy being children again."

Becki said: "I want to say thank you to Professor Cork and the team, without them Hollie wouldn't be as she is."

Liam summed up the effect of the drug trial and ongoing treatments.

"Hollie's skin is so much better," he said. "She's able to do all the things any 10-year-old should be doing. It's given Hollie her childhood back."

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