A mother accused of injecting faecal matter into her son while he was in a NSW hospital was "appropriately concerned" and upset when told about the presence of bacteria in his blood, her District Court trial has heard.
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The 39-year-old Blue Mountains woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with using poison to endanger a life.
She is accused of injecting faecal matter into her son in September 2014, when he was aged under 10, at a NSW hospital. The woman, now aged 39, denies the charge.
The boy was in hospital for treatment related to asthma.
His blood culture on September 27, 2014 proved positive for E.coli and one other bowel organism.
It came after a number of sterile blood cultures following his admission to hospital on September 2, and a subsequent blood culture was also sterile.
Nursing notes read out in court on Monday revealed that the mother, upon learning of her son's blood sample results, was "appropriately concerned" and demonstrated distress.
The mother then actively inquired into the outcome of the subsequent blood culture, which came back negative for bacteria.
The defence argues the September 27 blood culture was more likely a result of accidental contamination than deliberate poisoning, and has questioned why further information and expert opinions weren't obtained.
Under questioning from defence barrister Pauline David, Grace Wong - a specialist paediatrician in the hospital's child protection unit - insisted the advice of a microbiologist was not required on the matter.
The Crown's case rests on medical testimony arguing the boy's positive blood culture was most likely caused by a deliberate injection of faecal material into his intravenous line.
It is also based on the testimony of several nurses who allegedly heard the boy remark "why are you making me sick?", "why are you doing this to me?" and "what did you do to my cannula this time?" to his mother.
Dr Wong defended the decision of medical experts to reject the possibility of accidental sample contamination.
She disputed Ms David's suggestion the allegation against the mother is "unsubstantiated".
"I did not feel it was clinically warranted at the time and I remain of that opinion," Dr Wong told the court.
"My opinion at the time ... it was very unlikely to be a contaminant."
Dr Wong agreed the site of the boy's cannula was "not in good order" and the cannula had experienced blockages, but said it was unlikely he could have obtained a blood infection in this manner.
A 2014 police video interview with the boy was last week shown in which he denied his mother had poisoned him and said she never manipulated his IV line.
The boy admitted his "brain goes all weird" when he is ill and "I just say random stuff".
The judge-only trial continues before Judge Justin Smith.
Australian Associated Press
