“My daughter died of a cold.”

06:03 PM

Saturday, December 2, 2023

Written by: Yasmine Al-Sawy:

Pediatrician Caesar Termolo warned against considering a cold just a simple problem that causes a runny nose and fatigue, while it can lead to death, as happened with his daughter.

Termolo said that his daughter did not suffer from any health problem at all, but rather was a graceful girl in secondary school and one of the top ten in the school dance team, and she aspired to join the university and work as a doctor like her father, according to the “Today” website.

One day, the 16-year-old girl had a high body temperature and cough while at school, was diagnosed with a cold, and started taking oseltamivir or Tamiflu.

She began to complain of slight fatigue, and then she went home to get some rest, but she did her schoolwork and communicated with her friends as usual.

The next morning, she felt chest pain, specifically under the ribs, from frequent coughing, while her father said: “I know very well that a person can die from a cold, but this may happen when contracting bacterial pneumonia after exposure to the infection.”

The pediatrician added: “The first thing I did as a doctor and father was to examine her lungs, and I found them completely clean, and I did not find any symptoms of pneumonia, such as wheezing or shortness of breath.”

The teenage girl remained in bed drinking soup and warm drinks under her mother’s care, when suddenly her breathing stopped for no reason, and her mother tried to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her until the ambulance arrived.

When the ambulance arrived, one of the medical staff said: “We do not find any heartbeat in her,” and then she was taken to the emergency room, and the medical staff gathered around her to examine her.

The father described his condition: “I was terrified, and I knew from her appearance that she was no longer alive.”

After her death was announced, the medical team discovered that she had Streptococcus pneumoniae group A bacteria, which spread to the bloodstream and brain, and quickly led to cardiac arrest.

The pediatrician said, “My daughter died within days of being diagnosed with a cold, despite taking the influenza vaccine,” stressing, “I did everything I could, but I cannot control death.”