Seven babies in Jyväskylä hospital infected with MRSA

At-risk expectant mothers sent to Kuopio

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Seven newborn babies have been infected with MRSA staphylococcus bacteria at the paediatric intensive care unit at the Central Finland Central Hospital in Jyväskylä. Two of the infants have exhibited symptoms of the infection, while five have not shown symptoms.
      The condition of the patients was characterised as stable.
     
The first infection was diagnosed on Tuesday, another on Wednesday, and the rest on Thursday. The intensive care unit has a capacity for nine patients, but 19 were being cared for there when the infections broke out.
      According to infection specialist Maija Rummukainen, the conditions are ideal for the spread of MRSA - a combination of patient overcrowding and insufficient staff.
     
The hospital has initiated special measures to prevent the spread of the bacteria. Patients in the post-natal intensive care unit have been isolated, and no new patients are being taken in.
      A new ward for babies requiring intensive care has been set up with a capacity for four patients.
      High-risk expectant mothers, such as those with diabetes, are being sent to the Kuopio University Central Hospital as a precaution.
      Rummukainen says that the Central Finland Central Hospital is a safe maternity hospital, because the MRSA cases have been isolated. She says that the hospital has been quite successful in fighting the spread of MRSA; only 14 cases have been diagnosed this year, and most of them were on the out-patient side.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Helsinki hospitals hit by MRSA epidemic (24.8.2004)

Links:
  Association of Medical Microbiologists: Facts about MRSA

Helsingin Sanomat