A teenage girl died in her bed a few days after she was sent home from the hospital.
Her grieving parents are now trying to understand how their daughter was discharged despite being sick with the flu.
Sharney spent the night at the Joondalup Health campus on August 12.
She was discharged the following day despite still suffering from aches and pains.
She died at her Perth home, and paramedics were unable to help her.
In a statement, Ramsay Health, which runs the hospital, explained that the patient was cleared to leave and had no fever. The exact cause behind her death is still unknown.
The girl’s family has urged people to be aware of the seriousness of influenza, which is a contagious disease that can spread through body fluids.
Symptoms of the illness include fever, muscle aches, and soreness in the throat.
According to Australian health officials, vaccination is the best way to protect against the flu.
They also recommend that everyone over the age of six months get vaccinated.
The flu can vary in its form and severity each year. In Australia, the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza has jumped to over 300,000.
This is higher than the number of cases recorded during the same period last year.
The number of cases is the highest since the 2019 flu season, when over 300,000 were recorded.
In Western Australia, seven people have died due to the flu during the first seven-month period of the year.