Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Ministry of Health will deepen investigations into the death of seven newborns at the Baptista de Sousa Hospital, in São Vicente, and determine the causes of the generalized infection.
Evandro Monteiro, Deputy Secretary of State for the Minister of Health, explained that the inquiry respected all the necessary procedures and steps to find out about the facts and everyone involved, but found that it was necessary to progressively deepen this investigative process in order to clarify even more the facts.
The death of newborns, he admitted, “is an abnormal situation” and is something that “should not happen”.
“It is necessary and this is what we are working on, the information comes when the investigation is carried out, and we now have to move forward with the investigations, but logically that something triggered this late neonatal sepsis, and it is in all of this that we have to work now even to avoid attempts or tendencies towards disinformation or manipulation of the information itself, without technical criteria”, he pointed out.
Virus or bacteria?
The Secretary of State, who recognized that it is not easy to obtain this information, also assumed that behind this whole process there could be a virus or bacteria, but that in any circumstances, especially in this situation of “abnormality”, it is necessary to an investigation to determine the causes of these deaths.
“In fact, it was understood that sepsis was at the root of the deaths, but sepsis is a generalized condition and has many causes, and, behind that, we have to work to understand each cause”, he said.
However, he advanced that in this new survey a study is being carried out that safeguards the safety of hospital responses, that is, an analysis of closed spaces such as the neonatology service, adult or pediatric intensive care service.
ERIS action
The reaction of the Ministry of Health comes after the public position of the President of the Republic, José Maria Neves, who asked for a global inquiry of the national health system, after this episode of death of babies, considered by the Head of State to be “serious and abnormal” .
The President of the Republic was also surprised by the fact that ERIS had not carried out an inquiry. Evandro Monteiro advances, however, that the institution has all the necessary conditions in terms of technical, human and material resources that allow it to carry out its work independently.
The representative of the Ministry of Health assured that after obtaining all the relevant and adequate information, the ministry will communicate and inform each mother about what happened to the newborns.
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