New emails obtained by KIRO 7 show Seattle Children's Hospital had a strategy of keeping information about the deadly mold in its operating rooms under wraps, dating back to 2018.
Emails that go back and forth between Dr. Danielle Zerr, King County Public Health, and the CDC during the hospital's 2018 aspergillus cases—which led to the death of one patient-- show a "reactive media strategy." It instructs people to reveal important information about cases, including whether the hospital "had any patients with a confirmed aspergillus surgical site infection," only if asked about it.
Indeed, the strategy worked for 2018; the media only found out about new aspergillosis cases in May 2019.
See the email from Seattle Children's Hospital here.
More news from KIRO 7
- WSDOT awarded up to $37.5 million for Passenger Rail Car Replacement Project
- Dump truck crashes into Subway sandwich shop in Pioneer Square, several injured
- Man impersonating cop pulls over van full of detectives, police say
- Motorcyclist reached 145 mph during chase in Whatcom County, troopers say
- Do you have an investigative story tip? Send us an email at investigate@kiro7.com
Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/YVQ4NBKJFRFTJLIM2BT7G564AA.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/MHPEQTFEYRDJXKLQM7QTVD3I2U.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/R5NHABWRABG2FEIB577XL3KKYU.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/SEZROJLHYBH3HL2NO2IOWXOMDA.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/CCYLC2C73NCRFPG2DRAEJS4WZY.jpeg)