JUNE 26, 2017 Author: JORGE FLORES RIOFRIO | @FLORESRIOFRIO
Another child died in the J.M. de Los Rios. It’s Daniel Laya. He was two years old and was infected by the contamination present in the Hemo-dialysis Unit. It is the fourth child who dies in similar conditions, due to the failure to comply with the sanitary protocols necessary for the treatment of renal patients in the health center.
The child was in intensive care due to complications resulting from the infection, which led to his death last Sunday, June 25, at night.
Effect Cocuyo talked on May 23 with the mother of the child, Carla Flores, who reported that Daniel was resistant to antibiotics, because his treatment was constantly interrupted. “Today at least one type of antibiotic arrived, but tomorrow we do not know if it returns,” he said at that time.
Doctors, relatives of patients and human rights activists demand that the Ministry of Popular Power for Health carry out the disinfection protocol of the areas of the Hemodialysis Unit, the Osmosis Plant and the water tanks of the hospital, to avoid a new death of a child.
The first child to die due to contamination was Raziel Jaure, 10 years old, who died last May 3rd. In the same month, Samuel Becerra, aged 12, and Dilfred Jiménez, aged 15, died due to bacteria and infections present in the hospital.
The irregularities in the Hemodialysis Unit are not new. The head of the unit, Belén Arteaga, has stated on several occasions that the hospital has tried to resolve the situation, but without the assistance of the ministry the efforts have been unsuccessful.
Therefore, several organizations and associations published a statement in which they demand that the ministry immediately disinfect the unit and provide the necessary supplies to treat patients in the health center.
Arteaga, in an interview conducted by the team of Efecto Cocuyo on May 23, explained that although a company was hired to purify the water in the tanks, it is not enough. In addition, the lack of antibiotics does not allow effective treatment of patients.
In February of this year, a bacterium was reported in the water of the tanks. Researchers from the Simón Bolívar University determined that “the conditions of unhygienic, cleaning and maintenance of the tanks observed during the collection of the samples, directly influence the quality of the waters”.
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