Deceased
Baby AA
Demographics
0y, female
Coroner
Coroner Jacqui Hawkins
Date of death
2018-07-21
Finding date
2020-06-29
Cause of death
Disseminated Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV 1)
AI-generated summary
An 11-day-old neonate died from disseminated HSV-1 infection acquired perinatally. She presented with sepsis-like symptoms including lethargy, poor feeding, fever and respiratory signs. Clinical management was appropriate and timely, with empirical antibiotics initiated for suspected bacterial sepsis. HSV was not suspected due to lack of documented maternal genital HSV or postnatal exposure. A delay occurred in communicating abnormal coagulation results from the laboratory, which were initially thought contaminated. While earlier lumbar puncture and cranial ultrasound would have been appropriate, the coroner found these would not have changed the outcome. The death was unavoidable given the rapid progression of disseminated disease and high mortality rate (70% untreated, 29% treated). System improvements implemented include clearer escalation pathways for critical pathology results.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Procedures
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