An inquest into the death of a three-year-old boy after he was given medication following an outbreak of meningitis at a creche in Trinity College Dublin has been unable to establish why he died.
Dublin City Coroner's court yesterday heard a rare condition that led to the death of Adam Stones Hunt, Leixlip, Co Kildare, could have been caused by an adverse reaction to the drug rifampicin or could have been due to a congenital disorder.
The boy died at Temple Street hospital, Dublin, on November 14th, 2004, four days after he was admitted to Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, and diagnosed with haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
Adam died of hypovolaemic shock secondary to blood loss into the abdominal cavity, but the actual site of the bleeding was never identified, an inquest heard yesterday. But the court heard the inquest was unable to identify the cause of the HUS.
Four days prior to his death, Adam had finished a course of rifampicin along with children at the university creche, following an outbreak of meningococcal meningitis there.
The inquest heard testing had been carried out to determine whether the condition was genetic, but coroner Dr Brian Farrell told the court the tests had been inconclusive and further tests would prove costly, time-consuming and might not be conclusive.
"Sadly, at the end of this long inquest, we're not able to say if this is a reaction to rifampicin. Rifampicin is rarely associated with haemolytic uremic syndrome or with acute renal failure," said Dr Farrell.
He returned a narrative verdict in accordance with the evidence heard and said he would write to the Irish Medicines Board to inform it of the matter.