Mold Kills Three Children at Hospital

One of the biggest threats mold brings is that it can be unpredictable. Sometimes ordinary mold can be deadly to certain people in the right circumstances. This was most likely the case at the St. Joseph Hospital in Tampa where three children died within a month of each other due to mold complications.

Matthew Gliddon, age 5, Sierra Kesler, age 9, and Kaylie Gunn-Rimes, age 2, died respectively on April 16, May 3, and May 13 of last year. They were being treated in the oncology ward of the St. Joseph Hospital for acute leukemia. The pathology report says that Matthew and Sierra died from a combination of lymphoblastic leukemia and fungal infection. In Kaylie’s case, she had been cancer free for six months, and the fungal infection was the solitary cause of her death.

Renovation work was being done on the children’s wing of the hospital where the victims were staying. Parents expressed concern over fumes and odors that seeped into their children’s rooms from the work and that workers often shared the same passageways that their children used when they were transported. The impending lawsuit says the hospital did not take necessary precautions to ensure the children were not exposed to the air pollutants caused by the renovation.

The aspergillus mold linked to these deaths is common and found everywhere. But these children did not have normal, healthy immune systems that can easily fight off the mold. First of all, children do not have fully-developed immune systems to begin with. Secondly, they were undergoing chemotherapy which severely weakens the immune system. This is why hospitals are required to be sanitized. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 90,000 deaths result in health care settings each year due to infections from different causes.

There is no doubt that mold was a factor in the death of these children. And even though smoke and saw dust may be bad for the children’s health, it doesn’t cause a fungal infection. The children may have acquired mold infections from other locations. But it’s possible the construction crew used moldy building materials that were then spread to the children because the hospital did not properly quarantine the area.

Share: