Chinese hospital apologises after father finds ‘worm’ in son’s IV tube
- Three-year-old is put under observation for 17 hours after red, itchy spots appear on his back
- Hospital says it takes responsibility for object which father believes caused bacterial infection
A hospital in southwestern China has apologised after a man discovered a small worm-like object inside an intravenous tube while his three-year-old son was being treated for flu with a drip.
The father, surnamed Huang, said his son was taking medication at the People’s Hospital of Leshan in Sichuan province on Sunday when he noticed “an unidentified object” in the boy’s IV tube, news app Red Star News reported.
“At first, I thought it was something dirty outside the tube,” Huang was quoted as saying. “But after careful checking, I found it was inside the tube and it was something like a worm.”
Alarmed by the discovery, the father asked a nurse to remove the object. After the tube was disconnected, the boy developed red, itchy spots on his back, Huang said. He suspected they were symptoms of a bacterial infection caused by the object in the tube.
On Tuesday, the hospital issued a statement that said the boy later felt fine and was discharged after a 17-hour observation period.