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Klebsiella not yet contained
29/06/2005 10:20 - (SA)
Johannesburg - It was too early to say whether a bacterial infection that killed 19 babies at a Durban hospital had been contained, health authorities said on Tuesday.
"I don't think we should be saying that the [Klebsiella] infection has been contained," said Prof Ronald Green-Thompson, superintendent-general of the KwaZulu-Natal health department.
He would not comment on the possible cause of the outbreak at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital.
This would come out in a report to be handed to the health MEC and then to Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang for consideration.
"One can't pre-empt what the report will say."
A team, including a microbiologist, an expert in infection control and neo-natalist were currently "tidying up" their input and "networking" with each other as they prepared the document.
"We await their words of wisdom," Green-Thompson said.
The two babies who died last week were both "very high risk" and would probably have died even if there had been no infection, he added.
"The outcome of the babies may not have been different had there not been an infection."
Both babies had been premature and very small, weighing 1.1 and 1.3 kilograms.
"In both cases the mothers were not well, both babies were very high risk."
The hospital, except the neo-natal unit where the deaths occurred and which had been sealed off, was running normally.
The first baby died on May 23. Three babies were still fighting illnesses associated with infection from the bacteria, a hospital official told Sapa on condition of anonymity.
Another two recovered and have been discharged.
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