Woman, 38, dies in Rome after insect bite and three emergency room discharges

Prosecutors in Rome have opened an inquiry into the death of a 38-year-old woman from Ostia who was treated for an insect bite at emergency departments several times before she died. Relatives say she was sent home without effective treatment, and they have filed a complaint.

A bite that kept sending her home

In mid-September 2026, the woman, a mother of two, was bitten by an insect on her right thigh, according to relatives cited in the reports. The leg swelled and hurt enough that she went to the emergency department of the Grassi hospital in Ostia on 26 September. She was discharged with a diagnosis of an insect bite with inflammation and given the antibiotic Augmentin. When the swelling did not ease, she went in early October to the Celio hospital in Rome, where a surgeon saw her every two days, dressed the wound and ordered no further tests, according to the family.

Return visits and a worsening condition

Her relatives say the pain then spread to her lower back, her joints and her abdomen, and a burning sensation reached her back. On 18 October she returned to the Grassi, using crutches because she could no longer walk. She was sent home again, this time with a diagnosis of lower back pain and a referral for a spinal MRI that, according to the reports, was never carried out. Three days later, the family says, she had lost the ability to speak and the pain had become unbearable.

Hospital transfer and death

Early on 21 October her cousin, who was caring for her at home, called an ambulance. Back at the Grassi, doctors found a severe bloodstream infection, intubated her and arranged an urgent transfer to the Spallanzani hospital, where the head of the infectious diseases unit told relatives the situation was desperate. She was then moved to intensive care at the San Camillo hospital with a compromised lung in necrosis and dysfunction affecting her heart, liver and kidneys. The reports give 25 October as the date of her death.

Prosecutors order an autopsy

The family has filed a complaint, and the Rome prosecutor's office has collected testimony from relatives to reconstruct the sequence of visits and reactions. On 27 October prosecutor Eleonora Fini ordered an autopsy, which the reports describe as the step needed to establish what caused such a sudden and violent complication. One suspicion is that the woman was bitten by a violin spider and had an allergic reaction. Investigators also need to establish why she did not receive adequate therapy, a question that remains open.