First confirmed infantile death from enterovirus in Catalonia

A baby affected by enterovirus, a severe neurological disease, died this Monday at Parc Taulí Hospital in Sabadell, 30 kilometres north of Barcelona. The baby had been admitted to the hospital on the 31^st of July after her initial flu and vomiting turned into somnolence and flaccidity. ‘This is the first case in which we have been able to identify the virus, which was A-71’, CatSalut director, Josep Maria Argimon, explained. The enterovirus outbreak was first detected in April and since then 110 cases have been detected. Another baby died in June under similar conditions but the presence of the disease was not confirmed in that case. ‘The epidemic curve is decreasing, in the last two months we have only found two cases’ added Argimon and explained that ‘the outbreak is in its final stage’.

‘We did everything we could, but even so the outcome was death’, head of paediatrics at Barcelona Vall d’Hebron Hospital, Carlos Rodrigo, explained. At a press conference this Tuesday he pointed to the fact that only between 3% and 5% of enterovirus cases end up being fatal.

Catalonia’s Health Department has called citizens to follow the usual hygiene measures and ask for paediatric advice if a baby is affected by flu accompanied by somnolence, lack of energy, trembling or other neurological symptoms.