Baby girl succumbs to septicaemia
A baby who was admitted to hospital on Sunday suffering septicaemia has passed away, the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday in a single-sentence statement.
The eight-month girl was the third child admitted with a bacterial infection in two weeks.
The health authorities had stressed on Monday however that there was no epidemic in the community or at hospitals in Malta and this case had nothing to do with meningitis reports.
Medical Director Walter Busuttil said that two of the three cases – which have already been reported by the media – had unrelated bacterial meningitis.
One of the two, a four-year-old boy, passed away, while the condition of a three-week-old baby who was admitted to hospital last week, is improving.
The two cases were caused by two different types of bacterial meningitis.
Asked to explain three bacterial infections in two weeks, Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci said on Monday that this was a matter of coincidence and they were not related in any manner.