The post-mortem examination conducted on the body of 19-month-old Kayden Munroe was inconclusive but additional body samples were sent for testing at a pathology lab as the family awaits the conclusion of the probe into what caused the boy to die.
Kayden passed away at the West Demerara Regional Hospital on March 07. The autopsy was conducted on Monday and observed by government pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh.
Devi Munroe, the baby’s grandmother, related to the News Room that the PME was inconclusive but the results of the samples taken for testing at the pathology laboratory at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) should return in about four to six weeks.
On Saturday, the Ministry of Health said there would be a probe into the incident.
In a statement, the Health Ministry said the record indicates that over a period of about 48 hours, the baby visited several health institutions, including the Den Amstel Health Centre, the Leonora District Hospital, a private pharmacy, a private doctor’s office and the West Demerara Regional Hospital.
The Health Ministry promised that the post-mortem examination would be conducted on Monday and that reports and medical workers who provided care to the child would be engaged. The office of the Chief Medical Officer and the ministry’s Maternal and Child Health department, the statement noted, would also interview members of the family.
On Monday, Munroe said Health Ministry officials are yet to engage the family.
Kayden became sick after he took his vaccines on March 5. In subsequent days, he became unwell and when a fever he developed worsened, he was taken to the Leonora Diagnostic Centre where the health officials there gave him Panadol syrup and sent him home.
But Kayden’s situation got worse. He vomited multiple times, and started to “pant for breath,” his grandmother said. She decided to take him to a pharmacy and clinic in her village at Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo where the doctor there said he had “tapered breathing” and encouraged Devi to rush him to the West Demerara Hospital.
After delays in accessing treatment, Kayden was put on oxygen; after some 10 minutes, he was taken for an X-ray. Kayden died just after the X-ray at around 23:45 hrs.
