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Baby girl hospitalised after fault in common household item

A baby girl in Melbourne has spent the night in hospital after a suspected case of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Three relatives also became sick, with concerns that a leak from a faulty gas heater was be to blame.

All four were taken to Sunshine Hospital on Monday night and released on Tuesday morning, but the scare has prompted warnings from safety experts to regularly check on new and old gas heaters.

Four people at a Maidstone home in Melbourne were taken to hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning. Source: 7 News
Four people at a Maidstone home in Melbourne were taken to hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning. Source: 7 News

“You can’t smell it, you can’t see it, you just succumb to the symptoms,” Melbourne Fire Brigade’s Assistant Chief Officer Peter Thomas said.

“If there are sufficient quantities it can be fatal before you even know what’s happening.”

Carbon monoxide poisoning is commonly known as the silent killer.

In 2017, it claimed the life of 62-year-old Melbourne woman Sonia Sofianopoulos. A faulty heater installed at a Department of Housing unit at Greensborough was to blame.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is commonly known as the silent killer. Source: File image/AAP
Carbon monoxide poisoning is commonly known as the silent killer. Source: File image/AAP

“People a lot of the time think, ‘it’s not going to happen to us, it doesn’t affect us'”, Sonia’s daughter Elenis Kontogiorgis said.

Fire crews confirmed the heating unit in question at Maidstone was purchased recently and said it is unusual for it to have leaked.

The incident serves a reminder that regardless of age, all heaters need to be checked every two years.

“All heaters, irrespective of the make or model, have the potential to generate and spill carbon monoxide, particularly if they are unserviced,” Energy Safe Victoria CEO Paul Fearon said.

Energy Safe Victoria is investigating the cause.