Infants' deaths under investigation

Friday, June 3, 2011

Pretoria - The Western Cape Department of Health has launched an investigation into the death of two infants in Manenberg clinic.

Fourteen-week-old baby boy, Tyler le Grange was brought to the clinic on Wednesday at around 10am to receive his regular 14 week vaccinations.

According to a report from the clinic, the baby did not show any problems when his mother left the clinic with him. However, when his mother brought him back to the clinic at approximately 11:40am, the emergency's efforts to resuscitate him failed.

No other children that received vaccinations on the day were brought back to the clinic with any complications.

Another baby, five-month-old girl, Zakia Williams, arrived at the clinic at approximately 2:40pm not breathing. Emergency measures taken to resuscitate the baby were also unsuccessful.

Western Cape MEC for Health, Theuns Botha, said the preliminary report by the clinic manager and nursing staff on duty indicated that both babies appeared to be dead when they were brought into the clinic.

Extending his condolences to the families of the two babies, Botha assured the department's cooperation with the SAPS investigation into the deaths.

"The department's forensic pathology services are conducting the autopsies to investigate the cause of death, and only once the results of the autopsies have been received, will it be possible to determine whether the two deaths are related in any way.

"At this difficult time, I understand that the people of Manenberg are upset and frustrated. Where they have genuine complaints about any services, I encourage them to communicate this via the existing channels so that we can respond and improve the service we provide," Botha said.

He also encouraged the public to report any complaints or problems to the clinic manager, sub-district manager, district manager or the executive director for full investigation.