Four year old with strep throat transferred to Israel

by Ioanna Kyriakou

Christina Giannaki, Director General of the Ministry of Health, spoke to K about the massive operation set up to save the four-year-old girl suffering from strep throat. The little girl who was intubated and in critical condition at Makarios Hospital was successfully transferred to Israel on Wednesday night (21/12) and is now in Telasomer Hospital's Intensive Care Unit. Every 24 hours, the Ministry of Health will contact the doctors to get an update on the child's condition. The four-year-old was diagnosed with influenza last week and was receiving medication on the advice of the pediatrician who was treating her. However, her health deteriorated over time, and it became necessary to take her to Makarios Hospital on Sunday where she was diagnosed positive for Strep. 

Dr. Giannaki was informed about the incident on Monday, according to what she told K, and following consultations, a pediatric intensivist with expertise in infectious diseases who had been invited from Israel arrived in Cyprus the same day to monitor and evaluate the 4-year-old's condition.

The pediatric specialist who had been watching the young girl told the director general of the Ministry of Health that it would be "too risky" to transfer the girl by air ambulance abroad until late Monday night, according to the director general.

The 4-year-old girl was subsequently airlifted to Israel in one of the Ministry of Health's largest operations, as part of which, according to Dr. Giannakis, "a small hospital was brought from Israel to Cyprus." In particular, an Israeli medical team comprised of six doctors and an extracorporeal circulation device arrived at the airport in Larnaca on Wednesday (21/12) in the late afternoon.

An experienced pediatric surgeon, a nurse, and the assistant director of the university clinic at Telasomer Hospital in Israel were all members of the team. A technician to set up the device that would transport the child safely to Israel was also a part of the team. The doctors brought everything they needed, including three ventilators, ten oxygen tanks, medications, and intravenous fluids.

"We had to do our duty"

The child is currently being cared for in the intensive care unit at Telasomer Hospital. The plane departed Cyprus around 11 p.m. and arrived in Israel at 12:30 p.m. Dr. Yannakis stated that the medical professionals will keep her updated on the situation and emphasized that "as a Ministry, we had to do our duty." Recall that the child is with his aunt because his parents were unable to travel with him to Israel because they were coronavirus positive.

[This article was translated from its Greek original]