Mum Devastated After Hospital Misdiagnosed Her Son With Virus Instead of Sepsis

A mother was left devastated after her three-year-old son was sent home from hospital after being diagnosed with a virus when he actually had life-threatening sepsis.

Sheima Morsi knew something was definitely wrong with her son, Hamza, even after the Wollongong Hospital’s emergency department diagnosed him with a virus and told them to go home despite the fact that he could not keep even small amounts of water down, and was pale and lethargic.

Ms Morsi said that Hamza had first developed a high fever on Sunday. She and husband, Amro Said, then called an ambulance around 1.30am on Monday after Hamza had a fit and his “lips and back turned blue”.

Hamza was taken to the hospital’s emergency department where Ms Morsi said a doctor told them he had a virus. She said she asked about blood tests, but none were performed. Ms Morsi said, she knew something was very wrong with her son.

“While doctors and nurses have a lot of knowledge, sometimes they have to trust a mother’s instinct. I know a lot about my son. I knew he had more than just a virus,” she said.

Yet, they did as they were told, but once they reached home, Hamza’s temperature reached 40°C and rising, so Ms Morsi took him to a GP, who prescribed antibiotics.

However, at around 7pm, the couple returned to the hospital as their son had developed a rash and was “floppy and pale”.

“The nurse who was (triaging) said the rash was from the virus, and when I asked how long till we saw a doctor, he told us we had to wait our turn,” she said. “That’s when I broke down. I felt hopeless my son couldn’t speak so I needed to speak on his behalf, but I couldn’t be heard.”

When a doctor finally saw Hamza and a blood test was taken, his situation got worse. “All of a sudden we got rushed to the [resuscitation] room and the room was filled with doctors. I was told my son had sepsis and was put on life support,” Ms Morsi said.

Now, Ms Morsi is urging parents to trust their instincts. She said if she hadn’t returned to the ED last Monday, she believes her son would have died that night. “When we returned to the hospital, he went into septic shock and all his organs started shutting down his brain, heart, kidney and liver. If we didn’t go back to the hospital that night, he would have died,” she said.

Hamza was airlifted to The Sydney Children’s Hospital, where he remains sedated and intubated. Ms Morsi said recent tests showed the bacterial infection was abating. “We know now he had contracted streptococcal disease, which is usually found in the throat but in his case went into the blood and turned into sepsis,” she said.

A Wollongong Hospital spokesperson said any concerns raised by patients or their families were taken seriously. “The hospital is carrying out an investigation into the circumstances of this particular case and will continue to liaise directly with the family.”

Source: Essentialbaby.com.au