Anna Rosa's parents investigated for manslaughter: they had not vaccinated the little girl

The parents of Anna Rosa Bartolotta, the 4 and a half year old girl who died last Thursday from suspected diphtheria, are under investigation for manslaughter. The little girl, like the other four siblings, had not been vaccinated by choice of her mother and father. The couple claimed that a vaccination had caused another cousin's autism.

The Palermo Public Prosecutor's Office, coordinated by the deputy prosecutor Laura Vaccaro and the prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia, hypothesizes that the omission of vaccination against diphtheria, which has been mandatory for years, led to the death of the little girl, leading to the charge of manslaughter by omission.

The Prosecutor's Office listened to the doctors and the pediatrician who examined the little girl in the days preceding her first admission to the Cervello hospital. The pediatrician reported the difficulty of immunizing the little ones in the neighborhood. The measure states that in the Zen neighborhood there is a popular belief that vaccinations lead to autism, which is why parents refuse to vaccinate their children.

The autopsy on the little girl's body will be performed on Wednesday at the Polyclinic.

Anna Rosa's little cousin, hospitalized with the same symptoms, tested positive for diphtheria but would have had the first three cycles of vaccinations, presenting a milder form of the disease. Investigators are checking whether he was actually vaccinated.

Meanwhile, a boom in vaccinations is underway in Palermo following the news of the little girl's death, with a 10% increase expected in the next few hours.