Durban – KwaZulu-Natal’s health department on Thursday confirmed the deaths of five babies, but claimed that while the babies had bacterial infections, the primary reason for their deaths were related to other causes.
The babies’ deaths at Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital emerged during a sitting of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature on Thursday when the Democratic Alliance’s health spokesman Dr Imran Keeka claimed that they had died as a result of an outbreak of klebsiella and acinetobacter bacterial infections.
He had demanded that health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo address the outbreak and hold those responsible for the outbreak accountable.
However, in a statement released late Thursday, the department claimed the mortality rate at the neonatal unit, which generally deals with critically ill babies that have low birth rates, was not any higher than normal.
According to the statement, the five babies that died in April and May were found to have the bacteria, but that “the primary cause of death were congenital gastrointestinal malformations - Gastroschisis, Pierre Robin Syndrome and one had Necrotising Enterocolitis.”
Upon the discovery of the infections, the department investigated each case, closed the neonatal isolation unit for 10 days and strict infection control measures were implemented.
According to the statement there were 377 babies admitted to the unit in the six months from March to August. During that time, 38 babies died, including the five infected with the bacteria, which according to the department was an acceptable 10% death rate for a neonatal unit.
“The number of infections was reduced. There was no increase in mortality rate during this period. Currently the unit is functioning optimally with no further significant increase in multi-drug resistant organisms,” the statement read.
Keeka told the legislature that he believed that the hospital management and the head of the neonatal unit were trying to cover up the outbreak.
“We also advised the MEC that we expect him to ensure that those who delayed in bringing this problem to the fore are dealt with severely and for the head of the unit to be suspended until an investigation absolves him and his staff from any culpability,” said Keeka.
Two hospital staff members, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the hospital’s infection control section had had an important meeting on Thursday. But they were unable to say exactly what the meeting had been about.
In 2005 there were 22 babies who died at the neonatal Mahatma Ghandi Memorial Hospital from an outbreak of klebsiella. A subsequent investigation revealed that the outbreak was linked to a failure of infection control measures.
A previous report by Nelson Mandela School of Medicine’s Professor Willem Sturm, who led the task team to investigate the 2005 outbreak, attributed the outbreak to insufficient hand-washing by staff at the neonatal intensive care unit.
The contamination was caused by the multiple use of intravenous bottles to administer Vamin-Glucose.
Klebsiella and Acinetobacter baumannii are bacteria that affect people with compromised immune systems. Acinetobacter can be spread by person-to-person contact or contact with contaminated surfaces.
ANA