Luchii Gavrilescu: 'Closure' for family whose baby died with TB

Luchii Gavrilescu was 48 days old when he died

A baby died of natural causes after developing an infection as a result of contracting TB, an inquest concluded.

Six-week-old Luchii Gavrilescu died in hospital in Margate, Kent, in December 2019 after being mistakenly diagnosed with a common chest infection.

His mother Laura Cooke said it had been a "long, painful journey" but she felt like the "family has some closure" now.

A jury inquest heard of failings in Luchii's care at the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital (QEQM).

'Heart-wrenching'

Twice Luchii was discharged from the QEQM after being diagnosed incorrectly with bronchiolitis.

In November he had a mottled rash, a snuffly nose, erratic breathing and reduced feeding.

By 3 December his symptoms escalated to erratic breathing and a chesty cough.

Three days later he was taken back to the hospital by ambulance because he became floppy and pale, the inquest heard.

After being wrongly diagnosed with sepsis, he died.

Laura Cooke said is had been a heart-wrenching time for the family

After months of delays due to Covid-19, the inquest was held in Maidstone.

Miss Cooke said it had been a horrible time for the family, including for Luchii's older brother and sister.

She added: "It was heart-wrenching to have to re-live it all again.

"But it was good to hear from the experts and have some of our questions finally answered, and to hear what changes the hospital is making so this doesn't happen to somebody else.

"We have to live without Luchii for the rest of our lives, but maybe now we can begin to move on, whilst holding onto all the memories we have of him."

Coroner Joanne Andrews said Luchii's infection was likely to have been contracted from his father, Vlado Gavrilescu.

Despite a chest X-ray being done, signs of the TB in his father were missed in 2018.

This was reviewed following Luchii's death and the hospital trust accepted that had Mr Gavrilescu's TB been identified and treated, Luchii may not have died.

Dr Rebecca Martin, Chief Medical Officer for East Kent Hospitals, said: "Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to Luchii's family on their devastating loss.

"We accept the conclusion of the jury.

"Luchii's condition is extremely rare, but staff caring for children now have additional training and we have put in extra safety checks before children are discharged. We have also made improvements to the way unwell children are monitored.

"Changes have been made to how X-rays are reviewed with an additional check for underlying conditions such as TB."

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