A HEALTHCARE worker at Letterkenny General Hospital, Co Donegal is believed to be responsible for the spread of MRSA among newborn babies at the facility, Minister for Health Mary Harney said yesterday.
Three babies tested positive for MRSA infection at the hospital over the past two weeks.
Ms Harney told reporters in Dublin the monitoring system in the hospital worked very well, with the children being diagnosed very quickly. The healthcare worker was on leave of absence. She said any mother who attended the hospital and who now had concerns could attend for screening.
MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, is an antibiotic-resistant superbug which can be fatal if it gets into the bloodstream. The hospital said several measures had been taken to curb the spread of the infection, including specialist cleaning, followed by testing of areas within the maternity unit and screening of patients and staff in the unit.
The hospital has contacted a number of mothers to organise screening of themselves and their babies as a precautionary measure.
Meanwhile, the bacteria which causes Legionnaires' disease has been found at six locations in the water supply at University College Hospital Galway (UCHG) so far this year, it was confirmed yesterday. The HSE West stressed however that no patients had contracted Legionnaires' disease, which is a type of pneumonia.
It said the legionella bacteria was only found because monthly testing of the water supplies is carried out at the university hospital and at Merlin Park hospital in the city. Last week a higher than normal reading for legionella bacteria was found in the paediatrics department at UCHG.