Nine-month-old N.B. baby tested positive for RSV after death, godmother says

The godmother of a nine-month-old baby girl who died on Sunday is speaking out on behalf of the grief-stricken parents.

Timie-Lynn Jones told CTV News Mazikeen Hachey was rushed to Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton, N.B., Sunday morning.

Jones said Taylor Martin, Mazikeen's mother, called paramedics to her Scoudouc, N.B., home when she noticed her baby was having respiratory problems.

According to Jones, the baby tested positive for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) after she passed away.

Jones said Mazikeen's mother brought her to the emergency department at the Moncton Hospital two weeks ago, but didn't see a doctor because the wait was going to be around 24 hours.

Martin then took Mazikeen, her twin brother and older sister to a walk-in clinic. Jones said Martin was told her baby had a bad cold.

"There's definitely an issue with the health-care system," said Jones from her Upper Coverdale, N.B., home. Probably something should have been done. Probably they should have been tested for something.”

The parents are going through a rough time right now, Jones said.

"With everything being so fresh, I think the only thing they can get through their heads is to just hug your littles and make sure you keep your loved ones close and be thankful for who you have around your Christmas tree this year because that was something that was extremely unthinkable and unexpected," said Jones. "Now they're having to go through their baby's first Christmas without one of their babies."

A spokesperson for the Vitalité Health Network said it cannot release details about individual patients due to privacy rules.

In an email to CTV News, Dr. Natalie Banville, senior vice president of clinical programs and medical affairs, said the health network has seen an increase in hospitalizations and emergency room visits for respiratory infections in recent weeks.

"The severity of symptoms is also more pronounced than usual," said Banville. "We are monitoring the situation closely as it is usually this time of year that we begin to see an increase in respiratory virus activity in the community."

A spokesperson for the province said RSV is not currently a reportable disease in New Brunswick, nor is it in Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia.

The province does not monitor and report on RSV cases the same ways it does for COVID-19 and influenza.

CTV News reached out to the Horizon Health Network for comment but did not hear back.

Jones said Mazikeen's twin brother has noticed his sister's absence.

"We show him pictures of her and he babbles and babbles and babbles,” said Jones. “My screen saver on my phone has a picture of them and I caught him [looking at it] today. It came up and he was rubbing his face on my phone. He definitely knows. He knows there's something wrong."

Mazikeen's funeral will be on Friday.

Jones has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for the funeral costs.

"They can't grieve properly if they don't have finances taken care of," she said.