Mom warns parents after meningitis rash completely covers baby's body in 12 hours

A 16-month-old baby was rushed to the emergency room last week after a "few spots" on his back completely spread across his entire body in just 12 hours.

His mother, Annabella Hanslow, took her son, Ashley-Jay, to the hospital after noticing he had begun to develop a high temperature and slight rash.

But the dots began to fade, so Hanslow, a 26-year-old mother from West England, says her doctor dismissed them as unserious.

That is, until the "few spots" started spreading into a rash that would cover his entire body.

See photos of the rash:

Hanslow then rushed her son to the Walsall Manor Hospital after spotting the development, where she found that Ashley-jay had caught bacterial meningitis and sepsis -- both extremely life-threatening infections.

"The rash just disappeared under a glass test," Hanslow told CBS News. "All of the leaflets say [a meningitis rash] doesn't disappear when pressed down."

The glass test is used by pressing a side of a clear glass against the skin where questionable dots or a rash believed to be meningitis has formed. If the rash fades while pressed against the glass, it is widely presumed meningitis is not the cause. However, health officials say this practice is not "fool poof" and has not applied to "many cases."

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After five days in the emergency ward, Ashley-Jay remains in "poor" condition, with doctors telling Hanslow to prepare for her son's condition to worsen.

He has since been placed on a feeding tube as his oxygen levels are reportedly dropping, causing doctors to place him in a mask on occasion, said Handslow.

"Realizing that I left it for so long is heartbreaking," she said. Hanslow posted photos of her son's rash to Facebook to raise awareness of meningitis and to issue a warning to parents to trust their instincts and to respond quickly if they believe there is something wrong with their child.

"It all happened so fast," Hanslow said. "Please, if anyone is worried [their child] has this, go get checked as soon as possible."