More than two weeks after being admitted to the Eric Williams Sciences Complex in Mt Hope for pains related to her pregnancy, 28-year-old Stacy Ramkissoon has died. Ramkissoon had contracted the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, but the cause of her death hasn’t yet been determined. An autopsy is scheduled for later today.
Ramkissoon’s relatives received news of her death on Saturday night, in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Family members suspect swine flu, but Medical Chief of Staff of the North Central regional Authority Dr Andy Bhagwandass said the hospital would await the post-mortem report before making any statement.
“We don’t have the confirmed cause of death. It is known that she had H1N1 but there were other issues so we have to wait on the report,” Bhagwandass said.
The young woman had delivered her baby via a Caesarean section. The baby died one day after delivery. In an interview yesterday, Ramkissoon’s father Kelvin said his daughter, who lived on Mohammed Street in Tunapuna, went to the hospital early this month after experiencing pain.
“She didn’t seem to have any flu-like symptoms when she went in but they kept her for observation. Then they told us pneumonia, after that they said tuberculosis and then finally H1N1,” Kelvin said.
He said his daughter, who would have been 29 on January 25, was responsive shortly after going to hospital but took a turn for the worse and was moved to the ICU.
“I would go and see her but then I got sick and well I couldn’t go into the ICU. I tested positive for dengue,” Kelvin said.
He said hospital officials had given the vaccine for the virus to relatives.
Ramkissoon praised the doctors at the hospital, saying he knew they had done all they could.
“The doctors really worked, They really tried their best. They were talking to us and giving us information but it seemed like whatever was wrong was too much for them.”
Health Minister Terrance Deyalsingh, in a press conference on Friday, said three people had died as a result of the H1N1 virus in 2015. He said their had been a total of 29 lab-confirmed cases so far.
Deyalsingh told media there was enough vaccine shots and Tamiflu doses for the at-risk population in Trinidad. Children, the elderly, hospital workers and pregnant women are considered to be at-risk.