Eight babies at a maternity hospital developed a potentially dangerous infection that is resistant to multiple antibiotics.
The outbreak of S.capitis at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin meant the infants had to be isolated or nursed with strict contact precautions in the neo-natal intensive care unit. Results showed that the eight infections, all discovered last year, were related and were likely due to “cross transmission”.
In an internal report, the Rotunda said dealing with the outbreak had been challenging due to “staffing and infrastructural deficits” at the hospital. It said the “opportunistic pathogen” had been identified as a cause of infection in maternity and paediatric hospitals in France, Belgium, the UK and Australia.
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The report said it was resistant to “multiple antibiotics” and that babies infected needed to be treated with an “adequate spectrum of activity”. The Rotunda alerted neighbouring maternity and paediatric hospitals, asking them to review old samples to see if the infection was present.
It said 30 samples submitted by four different hospitals – three in Dublin and one in Munster – had “revealed relatedness between isolates from different hospitals”. In recommendations for dealing with the outbreak, the Rotunda said it would continue to prioritise staff recruitment.
It added: “Further work should be resourced and funded to investigate this clone, its prevalence in our NICUs and identify impacts on resistance to antimicrobials, propensity to form biofilm and its prevalence in healthcare infections in our NICUs.”
When asked about the outbreak, a statement from the Rotunda said: “The outbreak has been managed, contained, is closed and had no significant impact on the hospital.”
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