The parents of a five-year-old girl who died from meningitis in Malaga have spoken out, demanding answers after she was sent home from hospital before her condition turned fatal.

The young girl, from Velez-Malaga, died on April 20 at the Materno Infantil Hospital after suffering a rapid and irreversible septic shock caused by meningococcal infection.

Her parents, Ana Castro and Moises Cortes, say the tragedy unfolded in just 16 hours.

‘We were told it was a virus and to go home… and within hours our daughter was dying,’ they told Diario Sur.

The child was first taken to the Hospital Comarcal de la Axarquia during the early hours of the morning with a high fever, chest pain and a seizure.

Despite the symptoms, doctors diagnosed a viral illness and discharged her just three hours later.

At the time, she had a temperature of 38.8C but showed no visible signs typically associated with meningitis, such as skin lesions or neck stiffness.

Back at home, her condition quickly deteriorated.

‘She wasn’t improving, she was getting worse,’ her parents said. When they returned to hospital later that day, new symptoms had appeared.

‘She started developing marks on her skin, and that’s when they told us she was very serious.’

She was urgently transferred to Malaga’s Materno Infantil Hospital, where doctors confirmed she had meningococcal meningitis caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis. She died later that same day.

The girl had been vaccinated against several strains of meningitis – A, W, C and Y – but not type B, which is believed to be responsible for the infection.

Her death has sparked calls for accountability.

‘We don’t want money, we want justice,’ her parents said. ‘They should have carried out more tests. During the first visit, they only took her temperature, even though I insisted something wasn’t right.’

The case has now been referred to prosecutors by the patient advocacy group El Defensor del Paciente, which is calling for a full investigation into whether there were failures in the initial medical assessment and treatment.

Health authorities have also implemented precautionary measures, contacting people who were in close contact with the child, including family members and schoolmates, to prevent further spread of the infection.

Meningococcal disease is rare but can progress rapidly, particularly in young children, making early diagnosis critical.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.