Paraguay, Misdiagnosis of dengue leads to unnecessary surgery

A 22-year-old woman with dengue fever who underwent unnecessary surgery last May at the Regional Hospital of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay is being kept alive by mechanical respiration, according to diariovanguardia.com. She was misdiagnosed after being hospitalized with symptoms of Dengue and severe abdominal pain. The doctors who wrongly operated on her refused to disclose what they removed during surgery. Minister of Health Dr. Esperanza Martinez says it is very common to confuse dengue symptoms with appendicitis and believes the doctors most likely removed the woman’s appendix. The family of the victim is pursuing a malpractice lawsuit because the doctors would have been able to treat the dengue if they had recognized it at first and the woman’s three children are now homeless. Read Article