A 17-YEAR-OLD boy with the rare nervous system disorder of Friedrich's Ataxia successfully underwent surgery to his spine only to die after he acquired the MRSA infection in hospital, an inquest in west Cork heard yesterday.
Brian Daly from Newbridge Park, Skibbereen, Co Cork, died on October 11th, 2007 at Bantry General Hospital where he had been transferred for rehabilitative treatment following spinal surgery at the Mater hospital three months earlier. At an inquest in Bantry Courthouse yesterday, Coroner Dr Frank O'Connell said it was impossible to pinpoint exactly where the teenager acquired the infection.
However, consultant at Bantry hospital Dr Brian Carey said, on the balance of probabilities, Brian probably picked it up in the Mater hospital where he underwent surgery to correct the curvature to his spine.
Dr Carey said following Brian Daly's surgery on his spine at the Mater in July he was transferred by ambulance to Bantry hospital for rehabilitation. He said patients in the rehab unit are routinely swabbed for MRSA and, when Brian's result came in, MRSA was detected in his noise and groin. Treatment for the MRSA was immediately put in place by nursing staff.
The microbiology department at Cork University Hospital advised doctors at Bantry hospital to put the 17-year-old on antibiotics for MRSA infection, but his temperature never settled and he continued to go downhill during the coming weeks.
By September Dr Casey said he was "very worried" and Brian continued to be screened in a bid to identify the focus of the infection. CT scans and blood tests failed to assist doctors as they attempted to find the cause of the teenager's marked decline. On September 18th a blood culture from Brian grew MRSA and the youngster was transferred back to the Mater hospital for analysis.
On October 5th Brian was subsequently sent back to Bantry General Hospital. Four days later, Dr Carey told Brian's mother Carmel that her son was unlikely to survive. His kidneys stopped working and he developed Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). On the 11th, October 2007, Brian Daly died from an infection, namely MRSA, which caused acute kidney failure and ARDS.
Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster carried out a postmortem and said the cause of death was kidney failure and respiratory distress which were secondary to clinical sepsis. She said she could not find the MRSA during the post-mortem, but this does not mean that it was not there.
Coroner for the south and west of Cork Dr Frank O'Connell recorded a verdict of death as a result of a hospital-acquired infection. He said the MRSA infection caused renal failure and respiratory distress.
During the hearing, Dr O'Connell described MRSA as the "greatest curse" to hit medical facilities in this or any other country.
Speaking after the inquest Carmel Daly said: "I am glad that it is acknowledged that Brian died from a hospital-acquired infection. Brian was a healthy young man going in to hospital and unfortunately he came out in a box."