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How Bees Killed A Baby In “Little Belize”
posted (April 16, 2013)
Last night we told you about the tragic death of a four-year-old boy after he was swarmed by killer bees. It happened in Little Belize, a fairly remote Mennonite community in the Corozal District. Monica Bodden went there today to find out more, and speak to the family about the victims five year old brother who was also badly bitten:

Monica Bodden Reporting

The incident happened in the backyard of the Thiessen's residents. 5 year old Pedro and 4 year old Enrique Thiessen were playing in some nearby bushes - when they were swarmed by killer bees.

Their father Jacobo Thiessen was working in the yard and heard the commotion. He along with his nephew went to the boys rescue and in the process they were also stung.

The boys were rushed from their home in the Little Belize Area to the Northern Medical Plaza - almost an hour drive.

By that time, 4 year old Enrique had already died.

Dr. Marco Tulio Mendez - Pediatrician
"Yesterday around 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon, there were four patients that reached, two adults and two children. The children were 4 and 5 years old. Unfortunately, when they came in some of them were in critical condition due to bees stings that they had experienced in Little Belize. The 5 year old had a lot of bee stings and of course they had to give him treatment and put him through an IV/Drips and some treatment that was provided. But the 4 year old came without a heartbeat. I could see that he had recently died. We tried to resuscitate and tried to do whatever was possible but unfortunately I was not able. I could have seen the cause of death. What happened was that I opened the mouth and saw through the nose there were a lot of bees coming out through the nose and from the mouth. That was one of the ways of how children die immediately, even adults. It is very important that when we get attacked by bees that we should cover the nose and mouth because when they go through there they could cause a lot of swelling and the patient could have breathing difficulty and die. Unfortunately that was what happened with the four year old baby. For the 5 year old, he is in critical condition. He has been urining some blood. I could see that could be the complications that could come afterward from bees sting. More or else the quantity of stings that could cause the death of a child is more or less about 500. In adults it is more or less about 1000. Those would be the complications that could come up within the first 72 hours. The adults that came in, two of them, the father and the relative. They came in with vomiting and they were very dehydrated, nauseated, sweating; we had to treat them. They are okay, they didn't have too much bee stings but the five year old baby is still in condition."

Jacobo Thiessen- Decease Father (Translated by Dr. Marco Tulio Mendez)
"The kids were at the back and I only heard the children started to cry more or else like a 100 meters away and he and his neighbor went running to see what was happening and they saw that two of the babies were being stung by bees, the African Killer bees. They saw that one of them had most probably already died. The one that was active and moving, they brought him into the house. The other one that wasn't moving, they left him over there because there were too many bees that were around and they were being stung also. He was also the one that saw the child had already died on the spot."

And this is not the first time anyone has been attacked by killer bees in the Little Belize Area in the Corozal district.

Jacobo Thiessen (Translated by Dr. Marco Tulio Mendez)
"They already a situation where some other kids had been stung by bees but this is the first time a child dies from those stings over in the village, Little Belize."

And if you are wondering what to do if you are being attacked by killer bees, here are some tips from a medical professional.

Dr. Marco Tulio Mendez
"It's is very important for this time of the year when it's very hot. The bees get very active and as you know there are thousands of them that are around, especially the African Killer bees. Whenever we encounter this, they always go on a height so we are suppose to try to go on the ground and cover ourselves. If we start to get stung then the first thing we need to do is cover our nose and the mouth because that will protect those very important areas that could be swollen by the quantity of bees go through there. That is what causes death; the respiratory failure. These other patients had vomiting and a little bee came out. That is something that bees look for, they prefer to look for moist and dark areas, so they would attack that area. So it is very important that people cover their nose and their mouth so as not to come to an immediate death from killer bees."

BAHA will be visiting the area to eradicate the bee-hive. Five year old victim Pedro Thiessen is under a 72 hour watch which is the most critical period to see if he will make it.

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