Prosecutor orders probe into child’s Strep A death

A prosecutor on Tuesday has ordered an inquiry into the death of a 7-year-old child in a hospital in Thessaloniki after contracting streptococcus A (Strep A).

The child, from the city of Naoussa in northern Greece, died from complications linked to the bacterial infection, the National Public Health Organization (EODY) said on Monday. He had been admitted to the hospital in Naoussa last Saturday with fever and symptoms of gastroenteritis. The next day his health deteriorated and doctors decided to transfer him to Thessaloniki, first to Gennimatas Hospital and then to Ippokratio, where the child died.

Petros Ketikidis, a member of the executive committee of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Worker (POEDIN), told state-run broadcaster ERT on Tuesday that the dead boy’s 9-year-old cousin is also being treated at the Gennimatas Hospital for similar, yet mild, symptoms. The boy is receiving the appropriate medical treatment.

It was the sixth death of a child from Strep A recorded in Greece since the beginning of 2023, according to EODY.