Hospital fights risky baby bug
A «minor epidemic» in an Athens maternity hospital involving the bacteria serratia, which can be fatal to newborn babies, is under control, Health Ministry officials have said. All the necessary precautions have been taken in the Alexandra hospital’s neonatal clinic, where two babies infected with the bacteria died about a month ago and another infected newborn has been quarantined, according to Panos Efstathiou of the Health Ministry’s Research Center for Health Promotion (EKEPY). Health officials have not confirmed that the serratia bacteria provoked the deaths last month of the two babies, who were underweight and displayed other health problems. Another two babies at the clinic have displayed signs of infection, officials said. EKEPY, the Center for Infectious Diseases Control (KEEL) and the Alexandra hospital’s staff have been cooperating to ensure that the hospital is disinfected, inspections of babies entering the clinic are strict and newborns found to be infected are isolated.
