He had entered the Umberto I Polyclinic for hospitalization but he died of legionellosis. The producer of documentaries for Rai, Maurizio Paffetti, reportedly died after contracting legionella at the university hospital in Rome. As reported by Republicthis is only the latest case of death in the hospital due to the bacterium, the presence of which was reported months ago by staff representatives.
Hospitalization at the Policlinico Umberto I in Rome
According to what was reconstructed by RepublicPaffetti had arrived at the Policlinico Umberto I for a illness on April 9 and had been admitted to the second coronary intensive care unit of the Cardiac Surgery department.
After 24 hours the producer begins to show clinical problems in the brain and comes transferred to Neurosurgerywhere after several diagnostic tests he enters the operating room to undergo an operation to remove two cerebral hematomas, a collection of blood, resulting from a spontaneous rupture of vessels or a trauma.
The entrance to the emergency room of the Policlinico Umberto I in Rome
The discovery of legionella
Admitted to the neurosurgical intensive care unit, the doctors discover the presence of the legionella in the patientwhich would have caused his death (a similar case occurred last year in Arezzo, where a 64-year-old died of legionella after resigning from a private clinic).
To ascertain the causes of Paffetti’s death, the hospital management began an internal investigationasking a doctor for each department for a report that gives a detailed account of travel times, hospitalization procedures and related checks.
The complaint about the presence of legionella
The cases of death from legionella they are not new to the Policlinico Umberto I: between 2006 and 2007, patients died from a respiratory infection caused by the bacterium that had contaminated the hospital water. The epidemic led to the closure of some departments. According to the employees’ association, the University Guild Federation, the emergency would have recurred again in the hospital.
“We presented our latest complaint for the presence of legionella and salmonella in the Umberto I Polyclinic to the Carabinieri Nas three months ago” explained Giuseppe Polinari, secretary of the FGU.
“Nothing has been done and patients continue to diethanks to the very old tanks and pipes: the filters and chlorine are useless, the entire water system needs to be changed” declared the representative of the association.
Who was Maurizio Paffetti
Founder and animator of “Mediateca dello Sviluppo”, a multimedia information and research center on biodiversity in agriculture, Maurizio Paffetti he was a producer of documentaries for Rai.
For the public broadcaster he worked for years on programs such as Mixer, Geo & Geo, At the foot of Kilimanjaro and for the Educational and Stream channels. For twenty years you directed social communication for South America and Africa with “Crocevia”.
Photo source: ANSA
