Verona, new alarm for Citrobacter in the pediatric department at the Borgo Trento hospital: three newborns infected. In fact, between 2018 and 2020, around a hundred children were affected by the infection, with 4 deaths. One of them was Francesca Frezza’s little daughter: “The truth is that that damned bacterium has never been eradicated.”
“When I found out on Sunday, I fell back into the nightmare that Nina took from me…” Francesca Frezza is a mother who lost a daughter. It was 2019 when the case of the infected newborns and “killed” by Citrobacter koseri. One of them was his little girl. So when a test gave a positive result a few days ago at the Borgo Trento hospital in Verona, the alarm was raised.
It is sad to note that years of investigations, dead newborns including my little Nina, complaints and cries of alarm through every means of communication, bring us back to situation that emerged at the time, evidently never resolved“, says the woman interviewed by Corriere della Sera.
Meanwhile, the Verona Integrated University Hospital (Aoui) has announced that i three infected newborns “they are fine” and that “the alert was triggered on Friday 3 May when the active surveillance system with 24-hour screening for entrances and patients in Neonatal intensive carethanks to the advanced test used to search for Citrobacter koseri, reported an anomalous result, for the first time after 4 years.”
In fact, between 2018 and 2020, around a hundred newborns were infected in the Veronese hospital, with 4 dead and about ten children who suffered disabilities due to the infection. It was later discovered that the killer bacterium it was nestled in the faucet of the neonatal intensive care unit.
Citrobacter nightmare at Verona hospital: three infected newborns, temporary stop to premature births
At the time no one spoke, the presence of the bacterium came kept quiet for months and months, favoring the spread of the infection which affected dozens and dozens of children, killing four including my angel and causing very serious injuries which will forever prevent a normal life for other children. This is why I decided to immediately report this new alarm, because the scandal of that time must never be repeated again. Too much pain it caused, too much suffering… an unspeakable punishment” says the woman.
In any case, the results of the preliminary investigations on the three newborns “have reduced the alert”, reassures the Aoui. The company specifies that “it is not currently possible to establish whether the bacterium identified is the same strain as 4 years ago, as the genomic investigation carried out requires longer times. Furthermore, for completeness of information, it is underlined that the water distributed in the hospital is safe because it is subjected to systematic checks and all the water points to which patients are exposed are equipped with anti-bacterial filters”.
But Francesca is convinced that “that damned bacterium has never been eradicated but continues to coexist with the structure and to threaten the life and physical integrity of those who find themselves hospitalized there against their will”. And he concludes: “My bitterness is even more exacerbated by the fact that today, after five years, I still find myself fight to bring out the truth of the facts and every single responsibility”.
