Sofia Zago, who had not travelled to any at-risk countries, fell ill after a stay in a hospital in the northern city of Trento that was treating a family that had contracted malaria during a trip to Burkina Faso.
"We can categorically rule out the malaria having been caught outside the hospital," Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said on the sidelines of a G7 health summit in Milan.
The Santa Chiara hospital insisted it only uses disposable, single-use needles, leading experts to wonder whether the child could have contracted the disease via a mosquito bite on the Italian coast where she holidayed.
Malaria was rife in Italy in the 19th century but eradicated by 1962, and the idea it may be reappearing -- and in the colder parts of the country no less -- had spooked Italians.
Meanwhile, they live in our midst here.
0 comments:
Post a Comment