The grieving parents of a girl who died at home five days after being discharged from hospital are now demanding answers.
Paramedics were unable to save 13-year-old Sharney Lee Mitchell after her parents found her unconscious in bed and were unable to wake her just before midday on Sunday.
Six days earlier, Sharney was taken to Joondalup Health Campus is experiencing flu-like symptoms.
She tested positive for influenza A and was hospitalized overnight before being discharged the next day, despite still suffering aches and pains.
Sharney’s devastated family told 7News They have no idea how her condition deteriorated so rapidly after she was discharged from the hospital.
They are now demanding answers as to why Sharney was released from hospital so quickly when she was so ill.
The family, from Brabham, north-east of Perth, have posted a photo of Sharney as a public reminder of how serious flu can be.
The authorities are awaiting autopsy results to determine the exact cause of Sharney’s death.
Sharney Lee Mitchell, 13, was found dead in her bed by her parents five days after she was discharged from Joondalup Health Campus on August 12.
A Ramsay Health representative said Sharney was released because… He had no fever and his chest x-ray was normal at discharge.
Influenza is a highly contagious respiratory illness that affects the nose, throat and lungs.
Anyone can catch it through droplets left on surfaces and in the air after an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Symptoms include a fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, headaches, aches, vomiting, nausea, and abdominal pain.
Extreme cases can evolve into pneumonia that can cause breathing problems and even death.
At least eight people have This year alone, 1,000 people in Western Australia died from the flu.
Sharney’s parents don’t know how she died and are frustrated that the hospital discharged her while she was still exhibiting flu symptoms.
The WA Department of Health has reported an increase in cases of influenza and influenza-like illnesses compared to the five-year average.
In the week ending August 11, 10,152 cases were reported, of which 1,883 required hospitalization.
More than 4,200 of those cases were children.
In May 2023, three-year-old Muhammed Saadiq Segaff from Perth became the youngest recorded case of flu death in the state’s history.
Health authorities say the best way to avoid contracting the virus is to get vaccinated.
