Dengue Alert

A four-year-old girl is the latest fatality of dengue.

But the family of Krystel Fiona Dakay believed that she would not have died if she were treated properly at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who has been targeting “zero-death” at the CCMC, promised to investigate the matter.

Irene Dakay, the girl’s mother, said she brought her daughter to the CCMC around 10 a.m. on Aug. 5.

Although the hospital administered a free blood test to the girl, results did not come out until after the girl died around 7 a.m. on Aug. 6.

Irene said she was told that the delay was due to a laboratory technician who insisted that the blood test should be conducted together with a urine test.

Because the child could not urinate while at the hospital, the technician delayed the blood test, Irene claimed.

Irene said she begged the hospital to admit her daughter because the girl was already weak and had been vomiting.

“Pero gi-ingnan ko sa nurse didto nga ‘Ngano i-admit man nga okay ra man ang bata?’ (But I was told by the nurse there, ‘Why should the girl be admitted when she’s okay?’)” Irene said.

Irene said that by 6 a.m. of Aug. 6, Krystel turned pale. It was only then that doctors and nurses attended to her. The girl died less than an hour later.

Dr. Myrna Go, CCMC hospital chief, said she would look into the case and ask the Dakays to return to the hospital to identify the attending doctors and nurses at the time.

Go said that she heard that Krystel was taken care of by her grandmother, not by Irene.

The mother, she added, might not have been aware of all the circumstances surrounding the child’s death.

Go also said she was surprised by Irene’s story about the blood test and urinalysis being conducted together.

When testing for dengue, Go said the blood test is most important and the urinalysis could follow later.

Irene said she would file a formal complaint at the Office of the Mayor after the last day of the nine-day novena for her daughter.