A pregnant mum and her unborn baby have died from suspected sepsis. Zoe Anne Guaitivić began experiencing flu-like symptoms, including a fever, over the weekend.

The 39-year-old’s temperature soared to 40°C on Sunday night. Zoe – a British citizen – was rushed to AandE in Trento, northern Italy, by a helicopter. Doctors diagnosed her with sepsis.

They discovered that her unborn baby had died and decided to induce labour in a bid to save her. But after the delivery, her condition deteriorated rapidly.

She suffered a massive bleed and her already-weakened heart could not cope. Despite efforts to resuscitate her, Zoe died in the operating theatre on Monday morning. The Trentino Health Authority said: “Based on the information currently available, it is believed that the woman’s death was caused by an extremely acute case of septic shock, which progressed very rapidly and did not respond to the intensive, multidisciplinary medical and resuscitation efforts carried out by our team.”

Zoe, a UK citizen through her mother, had been living in Bolognano, near Lake Garda. She is survived by her husband, her eight-year-old daughter, her eighteen-month-old son, her parents, and her three siblings.

Her third child was due in August. Zoe was an art graduate and worked as a bookseller.

Simonetta Rinaldi, who owns the Colibrì-Mondadori bookshop in Riva del Garda, said: “She was a truly wonderful person, someone who made herself loved and appreciated throughout all the years she spent working in the world of books. She joined us this year, and it was like a rainbow lighting up the whole place. Wherever she went, she brought joy, and people would come to the bookshop just to see her.

“To her, this job was the most beautiful thing she could have, right alongside the excitement of her new pregnancy. She was the very picture of happiness, and for me and the whole team, her loss has left an unfillable void.

“We’re all holding each other close, grieving a dear friendship that was so suddenly and inexplicably taken from us.”

A post-mortem examination will clarify the cause of death.