Six year old’s parents to lodge complaint against hospital with Medical Council, saying doctors told them flu care wasn’t available during the night
ELIZABETH.CHEUNG@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Friday, 13 May, 2016, 10:06pm
The 6-year-old boy killed by flu, Billy Ho.
The Coroner will investigate the death of a six-year-old boy who was allegedly deprived of Tamiflu treatment until 12 hours after admission to Yan Chai Hospital, despite symptoms of high fever and seizures.
Billy Ho was admitted to the hospital in Tsuen Wan on April 10 at around 9.50pm with a fever at 42 degrees Celsius.
But a rapid flu test was only carried out 10 hours later, and the child died of brain inflammation, a flu complication, on April 22.
Billy’s parents questioned why there was a delay before the boy was treated and also planned to lodge complaints with the Medical Council.
“Doctors told us that Tamiflu was not available at night but during daytime only... the drug is available to patients at night only in very urgent conditions,” said Billy’s mother, Mrs Ho.
She cited a conversation in a meeting with doctors six days after her son’s death.
That was also the first time the parents learned their son was diagnosed with influenza A.
Mrs Ho criticised medics at Yan Chai Hospital, saying they underestimated the severity of her son’s condition.
“The doctor told me that my son was suffering from ordinary flu only, and strong medication such as Tamiflu was not necessary for him,” said Mrs Ho, in tears.
She questioned why Billy was not given a rapid flu diagnostic test immediately, despite symptoms of high fever and recent travel records showing he visited the mainland.
Instead the boy was given antibiotics and medication to treat his seizures and fever in the first 12 hours in the hospital, before he was given Tamiflu.
The boy remained unconscious after waking up for a short while in the middle of the first night.
He was then transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital at around noon on the second day, when his brain was found severely damaged. He died 11 days later.
Dr Lilian Wong Hiu-lei, president of the Paediatric Society, said flu tests might not happen instantly if the hospital laboratory does not run on 24-hour basis.
“Fresh samples are needed for test. It is meaningless if the sample has been placed for hours before a test,” said Wong.
A spokesman for the Hospital Authority’s Kowloon West cluster said the boy’s body temperature once dropped to 37.8 degrees after prescription of antibiotics at 1.41 am, about three hours after admission. But his condition deteriorated again and he had seizures at 6am. The authority did not say whether an internal investigation would be carried out.
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1944680/inquest-hong-kong-boy-who-died-after-delayed
