The parents of Anna Rosa Bartolotta, a 4-year-old girl who died of diphtheria at the Civico Hospital in Palermo, are now being investigated for manslaughter by the city's Public Prosecutor's Office. The Juvenile Prosecutor's Office has also opened a civil procedure to assess parental responsibility. Registration on the list of suspects is a precautionary measure prior to the autopsy, scheduled for Wednesday, and allows the couple to appoint their own experts, reported the newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The child had not been vaccinated by choice of her parents, both of whom are against vaccination, even though the diphtheria vaccine, which protects against a serious bacterial infection, is mandatory in Italy. The couple claimed that a vaccine had caused autism in a cousin of the girl. Their other three children, who were also unvaccinated, received the vaccine after their sister's death.
The girl's 4-year-old cousin, who is hospitalized with her, tested positive for diphtheria. He had already completed the first three vaccination cycles and "is improving clinically," according to Domenico Cipolla, health director of Arnas Civico, which is keeping him in isolation and under observation. The Juvenile Prosecutor's Office has ordered an urgent check in daycare centers and primary schools in the northern area of Palermo to identify unvaccinated children.
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Read the original article in Italian at Corriere della Sera.
The Supreme Court reaffirmed: citizenship is born with the person.
- New legal front opened
- Processes can still be filed.
- Individual assessment before any decision.
