Boy, three, dies in Grodzisk Mazowiecki hospital; doctors suspected meningococcal infection
A three-year-old boy died on 24 September at the Western Hospital in Grodzisk Mazowiecki. A post-mortem found bowel strangulation, not the meningococcal infection doctors suspected, and prosecutors are now investigating.
Symptoms and the emergency call
The boy, described as three years old by most outlets and as 3.5 by wpolityce.pl, was well enough to play at his kindergarten on Tuesday, 22 September. Vomiting began that night, and the next day he had a fever, ate little and kept vomiting, and by evening his abdominal pain had become severe. Shortly before 23:00 he began vomiting bile even after sips of water, turned pale and his lips went blue, and his father called the emergency number, according to Uwaga! TVN. Ambulance crews weighed taking him to Warsaw or to Grodzisk Mazowiecki. The family was told the queue at the Banacha Street hospital in Warsaw was seven hours, while Grodzisk had no patients waiting. Marcin Sanocki, director of the ambulance station in Błonie, told Uwaga! TVN that the nearest hospital with a paediatric ward was chosen, in line with procedures.
Care at the Western Hospital
Medical records cited by wpolityce.pl classed the boy as urgent but not life-threatening on arrival at the emergency department, noting a raised pulse, pallor and abdominal pain. The records describe the abdomen as normal and soft and painless, so no ultrasound or X-ray was ordered. Staff gave oxygen, drips and an antibiotic, and doctors suspected meningococcal infection and sepsis. Around 3:00 he was moved from the observation room to the paediatric ward, where his condition worsened quickly. An emergency doctor told wpolityce.pl that no radiologist was in the hospital that night, and an ultrasound was performed only during resuscitation. An anaesthesiologist reportedly raised concerns during the rescue effort about poor working conditions and missing working equipment. Death was recorded at 5:26 on 24 September, after two hours of resuscitation. Accounts of the timing differ: FAKT24 says death came about three hours after admission, while Rzeczpospolita puts it at five hours.
What the post-mortem found
The post-mortem on 28 September identified the direct cause of death as intestinal obstruction from a strangulated small intestine, which led to necrosis, shock and death. Bacteriological tests excluded meningococcus and other bacteria that cause sepsis, so the suspected infection was ruled out. Paediatric surgeon Dr Aleksandra Jasińska told Uwaga! TVN that the boy's symptoms required further diagnosis.
- Boy plays at kindergarten, then vomiting begins that night
- Boy declared dead after two hours of resuscitation
- Post-mortem finds intestinal strangulation with necrosis, excludes meningococcus
The child arrived at the emergency department in a very serious condition. A patient like that should have had an abdominal X-ray and an ultrasound, because such symptoms can point to an infection.
Dr Jasińska also said, as FAKT24 reported, that a patient in that state should have been taken to a facility where paediatric surgery is available.
Hospital response and the investigation
Iwona Bubisz-Dukat, department head at the Western Hospital, explained the diagnostic approach to Uwaga! TVN and declined to go into detail about the case.
We are dealing with prosecutorial proceedings. I would not want to go into details that could affect how the further assessment turns out. We are cooperating with the prosecutor's office. We are trying to pass on all the information.
The parents want to know whether earlier abdominal imaging could have changed the outcome and whether a specialist children's hospital would have given their son a better chance of survival. The articles describe the matter as a prosecutorial proceeding, and none of them reports any charges or named suspects. Konfederacja leader Krzysztof Bosak and publicist Piotr Kusznieruk have publicly expressed outrage at the case, according to wpolityce.pl.
