BACTERIA at ‘Busta’ (OUTBREAK) : Antibiotic-resistant outbreak at children’s hospital in July

BY ALPHEA SAUNDERS Senior staff reporter saundersa@jamaicaobserver.com  Thursday, October 29, 2015    
THE Ministry of Health has confirmed reports about an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant bacteria at the Bustamante Hospital for Children which occurred in July.
01At a press conference at Jamaica House yesterday, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Marion Bullock-Ducasse said the outbreak of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) had occurred in the intensive care unit at the paediatric hospital but was not extensive.
"... There were three cases in that outbreak (in) patients who had been in the unit for months. All of the appropriate measures were taken, and the containment was achieved," she told journalists. The CMO said, however, that there was no outbreak in the special care nursery at the children's hospital.
MRSA is a strain of bacteria that causes infections in different parts of the body and is more difficult to treat than most strains of staph because of its resistance to many widely used antibiotics.
At the same time, Bullock Ducasse said the case of a child with bacterial infection at St Ann's Bay Hospital was an isolated incident and that the hospital had it under control. "The ministry had immediate dialogue with doctors at the hospital, we requested additional information which was reviewed last evening, and a team from the Ministry of Health head office, including our national epidemiologist, is currently at the hospital conducting an assessment and to ensure that the appropriate recommendations are in place," she stated.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson told Parliament that one more baby had died from bacterial infection at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, bringing the number of fatalities from the outbreaks, which began in June, to 19 -- eight at the UHWI and 11 at Cornwall Regional. The ministry has now disclosed that, since last week, a total of 45 babies have been infected with hospital-acquired germs at the two institutions. more

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