segunda-feira, 30 de agosto de 2010

Baby died following outbreak of antibiotic-resistant superbug


A premature baby died at one of England's leading hospitals during an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that affected 13 infants, it emerged today.
The death has raised fresh fears about the dangers of superbugs, which doctors are struggling to treat because they lack the right antibiotics to combat them.
The dead child was one of 13 premature babies found to have gram-negative bacteria on or in their bodies last month in the neonatal unit of University College London hospital. The bacteria – which included E. coli and Klebsiella – posed acute difficulties because they are resistant to gentamicin, the antibiotic the hospital used to tackle infections in newborns.
In four of the 13 cases the bacteria got into babies' bloodstream and infected them, while it was found solely on the skin of the other nine. The baby who died was aged under three months, but the hospital would not confirm whether it was a boy or a girl, nor the particular infection carried.
Hospital spokeswoman Sharon Spiteri stressed that the baby died with the bacteria, rather than as a direct result of it. "The baby died of a number of factors including the infection, though the infection wasn't the main cause of death," she said.
Two others of the four infected babies also died, but of conditions unrelated to the bacteria, she added. The fourth recovered and went home.
"Bacteria like these are an ever present danger. All four babies were very premature when they were born and as such were particularly high-risk and vulnerable to these bacteria," she said.
Such babies' fragile skin and immature organ systems place them at high risk if such infections occur. The Guardian