Baby’s death in northern Greece hospital being investigated

An administrative inquiry has been ordered into the death of a 15-month-old boy at the Bodossakeio General Hospital of Ptolemaida, northern Greece, last week, to determine why the child did not receive specialist care earlier. 

The infant was rushed to Ptolemaida’s hospital by its parents on the morning of New Year’s Day with a fever and diagnosed with the flu. 

According to the hospital administration, as the child suffered from a chronic illness that affected its immune system, doctors advised that it be treated at home and brought back to the hospital only if its symptoms worsened. 

The infant was brought back the following evening when the fever failed to subside but was not seen by pediatricians until its condition worsened precipitously an hour later. 

“Despite the efforts of the pediatricians who were called to attend to the case and those of an anesthesiologist…, the infant’s planned transfer to the pediatric ICU of an on-call hospital in Thessaloniki was not possible due to his rapid deterioration,” the hospital’s deputy governor, Despina Karasavvidou, said in a statement. 

An autopsy conducted on Thursday showed the cause of death to be severe respiratory infection. Health authorities are also expecting the results of histological tests.