A 48-year-old man who received his first BioNTech mRNA jab on 13 May and had been diagnosed with acute necrotising epiglottitis died yesterday.
The Portuguese-language TV channel of public broadcaster TDM identified the deceased as local Portuguese lawyer Francisco Gaivão.
According to the Health Bureau (SSM), the patient had been diagnosed with acute necrotising epiglottitis – a life-threatening disorder due to the inflammation of the epiglottis, which occurred after he suffered shortness of breath and passed out in his home last Wednesday.
The man’s heartbeat was restored by emergency treatment, after which he was admitted to an intensive care unit, The Macau Daily Post reported.
Kiang Wu Hospital diagnosed the patient as having acute necrotising epiglottitis after carrying out a CT scan, direct laryngoscopy and a blood analysis. The acute necrotising epiglottitis caused the man to suffer an air obstruction, cardiac arrest and acute hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy – a disorder of the brain when it is deprived of adequate oxygen and blood supply.
The Kiang Wu Hospital reported the case to the SSM last Friday, when the bureau’s special working group tasked with assessing serious adverse events after Covid-19 vaccinations called an emergency meeting to discuss the case, which was also attended by the chief doctor who was treating the patient.
The case, which was announced by the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Centre last Friday, was classified as a serious post-vaccination adverse event. It was Macao’s third case of a serious adverse event following a Covid-19 vaccination.
However, the SSM has concluded that the case was a coincidental event, meaning that the patient’s adverse event was not related to his Covid-19 vaccination.
The SSM expressed its deep condolences to the man’s family and also vowed to provide his family with all necessary assistance. The bureau pointed out that if the deceased person’s representative or family request a medical error examination, an autopsy will be carried out to further clarify the cause of his death.
