A mother and her 15-year-old daughter died at the Cardarelli hospital in Campobasso, where they had been admitted due to a persistent illness that had lasted for several hours, following a fish-based dinner .
To clarify the causes of the tragedy, an autopsy has been ordered as part of an open case against unknown persons. The main hypothesis is that of fulminant hepatitis linked to food poisoning .
The victims are Antonella Di Ielsi, a 50-year-old woman from Pietracatella, and her daughter Sara Di Vita , who attended a classical high school in Campobasso. The girl was the first to die. The deaths occurred after a rapid and dramatic deterioration in their conditions. Both had already been feeling unwell in the previous days and had visited the emergency room twice. They were discharged with a diagnosis of food poisoning . The victims' husband and father, Gianni Di Vita, 55, a former mayor of the town, also experienced symptoms, although less severe so far. However, he is hospitalized in intensive care . The other daughter, an 18-year-old, reported no symptoms and apparently did not eat with her family.
It's unclear what food may have caused the illness, given that the family had also eaten with other relatives during the holidays, who subsequently had no problems. Officers from the Campobasso Flying Squad visited the Pietracatella home this afternoon and seized the food items present . The bodies were also seized and are now being held by the judicial authorities.
"The clinical picture had a truly rare evolution that led rapidly to death despite the intensive care we implemented," explained Vincenzo Cuzzone, head of the Intensive Care Unit at Cardarelli Hospital in Campobasso . "They began to experience these symptoms after a meal, but these are fragmentary reports gathered from them, who were nonetheless shaken," the doctor added. "There was liver failure and then a cascade of events, one after the other, with truly uncanny rapidity, leading to multiorgan failure . The other sister is fine; she didn't have the same symptoms as her family members. It appears she didn't eat with them that day. These days, it's also difficult to pinpoint exactly which meal the episode refers to."
"Yesterday we treated the little girl who arrived in the emergency room with general symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain," Cuzzone concludes. " After her death and the sudden and rapid progression, we asked the family to take her mother to the hospital as well, as they had reported she was experiencing the same symptoms. We tried to anticipate the situation a little, but it wasn't enough . Her father is currently hospitalized with us, in intensive care, and is in good stability. If he improves, we will transfer him to a referral center, such as the Spallanzani Hospital in Rome or the hospital in Naples."
(Unioneonline)
