This Thursday, five deaths from influenza were confirmed in the Ñuble region, four of the deceased were not vaccinated. The information was confirmed by Dr. Max Besser, Deputy Director of Care Management of the Ñuble Health Service.
“This week there are five people who died. We have the first case, a 6-year-old girl who died at the Cesfam in San Nicolás on May 21,” Besser said. He added that “that same day a 55-year-old woman died in the ICU of the Herminda Martín Hospital. The third case is a 21-year-old woman” who died in the same care unit.
The deputy director continued detailing that during “this early morning of May 23, a 15-year-old boy and a 68-year-old man died, also in the ICU of the Herminda Martín Hospital.”
To date, in the region, there are “68 deaths from respiratory causes, whether influenza or other respiratory causes.” In addition, Besser stressed that of the five deceased, “four of them were not vaccinated, therefore, the emphasis that we as health authorities place is that the population comes forward to vaccinate.”
He also commented that at this time a team led by the head of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health is traveling to the region to investigate the cases.
On the other hand, Dr. Luz Morán, director of the Herminda Martín Hospital, stated that “the hospital has everything necessary. In fact, we have a sufficient number of critical beds, being clear that of our 30 critical beds, more than half are occupied by patients with acute respiratory infections. But we still have free beds, so it is not an issue of concern for the community.”
He also reported that “the 21-year-old mother of the deceased is hospitalized with us in intermediate treatment. She is in better condition, because she also arrived in serious condition, before her daughter.”
Relatives report that their daughter attended the hospital repeatedly
The six-year-old girl was the first fatality from influenza in the region. She died in the early morning of May 21 at the Cesfam in San Nicolás. Her death has left several questions, since her family alleges that before she was taken six to eight times to health facilities, between the San Carlos hospital and Cesfam. Both of them were sent to her house.
The authorities have initiated a medical audit and a summary, and the Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into “possible crimes” committed in this case and the other four.
“She had a lot of pain in her little body, she had a fever, my niece has videos where her ribs sank when she breathed. Where is the doctors’ criteria,” alleged an uncle of the girl. Her maternal grandmother assured that “there is medical negligence because my daughter sought all the help. She went to the San Carlos hospital, they sent her home, she went to Cesfam San Nicolás, and she went home,” he reports. Emol.
Sebastián Jara, director of Cesfam of San Nicolás, said that “we deeply regret this situation. We need more resources to function. We are not coping with the more than 220 daily morbidity care services, which has represented an enormous change for us, who usually care for 30 to 40 people a day.”
Finally, regarding whether the people who died at the Herminda Martín Hospital had any other related illness, Morán indicated that “they all had comorbidities of different types.”
