Heartless anti-vaxxers have hijacked the death of a teenage boy to spew dangerous conspiracies about Covid.
Osama Suduh, from Sydney’s Covid-hit southwest, was moved into intensive care and placed on life support last week after testing positive to Covid-19.
The 15-year-old had been admitted to hospital with pneumococcal meningitis – a life-threatening infectious disease that causes inflammation of the layers surrounding the brain and spinal cord – and only tested positive to coronavirus on his arrival.
Osama’s life support was switched off on Sunday night and his grieving family are coming to grips with a life cut tragically short.
Trolls have used the tragedy to further their own agenda, arguing that because Osama was battling two separate conditions at once, his death should not be linked to Covid.
Osama (pictured) is 15-years-old and has died in hospital after testing positive to Covid-19. He was admitted to hospital with pneumococcal meningitis – a life-threatening infectious disease that causes inflammation of the layers surrounding the brain and spinal cord
Officials and family members have not claimed that Covid was the primary factor in Osama’s death, only that he had been diagnosed with the virus.
Sydney Children’s Hospital at Randwick, where Osama was being treated, confirmed his death on Monday and confirmed he did have Covid at the time, though it isn’t considered the cause of his death.
Regardless, one Covid-denier said it was ‘disgusting’ that medical officials revealed he had the virus, despite first receiving the family’s blessing to discuss his case.
‘I don’t believe for a second it was COVID,’ the woman said. ‘Stop the fear mongering it’s disgusting.’
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant on Monday reiterated that he died with Covid.
Osama received his childhood vaccination for pneumococcal meningitis, but Dr Chant said it was possible he was not protected against the particular strain he was diagnosed with.
Osama’s distraught relatives had earlier begged the Islamic community to pray for a miraculous recovery before it was too late.
Osama’s family had urged people to pray for the teenager (pictured) as he fights for life in hospital
The woman was outraged that a community group shared photos of Osama urging friends and family to keep the teen in their prayers as medics prepared to turn off his life support.
‘Please ask Allah the all Powerful, the Most Merciful to make the impossible possible for our young brother Osama to remove the illness from his body that leaves no trace of existence behind,’ the post read.
The woman responded by claiming NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant could have been talking about ‘another child’ during a press conference on Sunday in which she revealed a 15-year-old boy was fighting for life as he dually battled Covid and meningitis.
‘You should have stated the real reason from the beginning. The video could also be alluding to another child not necessarily this one,’ she wrote.
Naomi Cook, a former nurse who wrongly claimed residents in disadvantaged towns were being forced to take the vaccine against their wills, was an outspoken critic.
‘My heart goes out to his family. But he did not die from Covid,’ she said. Cook does not appear to know the boy or his family.
Heartless anti-vaxxers have hijacked the death of a teenage boy to spew dangerous rhetoric about Covid and question the legitimacy of the virus
The Kingsgrove North High School student was not eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine due to his youth.
But anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists who are wrongly convinced medicine used to treat and prevent Covid is dangerous have also lashed out at the family for trusting medical professionals in caring for their son.
A woman named Sarah who refused to reveal what, if any, qualifications she had, urged the family to contact her overnight to discuss Osama’s treatment.
‘I have been doing alot (sic) of research on the medication they approved to use in Covid patients and it actually causes severe reactions leading to death,’ the woman claimed.
Mourners criticised the woman for using the tragedy to spout her own dangerous rhetoric.
According to the Department of Health, pneumococcal meningitis has a mortality rate in non-Indigenous Australians of about 10 per cent.
The 15-year-old had been admitted to hospital with pneumococcal meningitis – a life-threatening infectious disease that causes inflammation of the layers surrounding the brain and spinal cord – but also tested positive to coronavirus on his arrival
Intensive care units at hospitals are quickly filling up with Covid patients as NSW grapples a widespread outbreak. Pictured: Medical staff at St Vincent’s Hospital caring for a COVID-19 positive patient in the ICU of St Vincent’s Hospital
Indigenous Australians are at an increased risk of developing severe side effects of the virus.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce on Monday morning described Osama’s death as a ‘tragedy’.
‘What an incredible tragedy it was for that young man to die last night,’ he told Sunrise.
Dr Chant said on Sunday Osama’s family had given their permission for details about his case to be shared with the public.
‘This has been cleared by his family. I can confirm that there is someone admitted to hospital that is 15 and that the cause of their admission, while they are Covid positive, is related to another health condition,’ she told reporters on Sunday.
‘The family has agreed that we can indicate that he has pneumococcal meningitis.’
There are 391 people being treated in NSW hospitals with Covid, with 66 in intensive care. Twenty-eight of whom require ventilation.
New South Wales recorded a further 478 locally acquired cases of Covid in the 24 hours to Monday, along with eight deaths.
Mourners criticised the woman for using the tragedy to spout her own dangerous rhetoric