Super Germ Outbreak shuts L.A. Hospital
Pastor Dale Morgan
Super Germ Outbreak shuts L.A. Hospital*
Saturday December 16, 2006 6:31 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A hospital has closed its neonatal and pediatrics
intensive care units to new admissions after a potentially fatal
bacterium sickened seven children, including an infant who may have died
from the infection, officials said Friday.
White Memorial Medical Center shut down the neonatal unit on Dec. 4
following an outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, hospital officials said.
The germ is believed to have infected five babies in the unit since it
was detected on Nov. 30, said Dr. Laurene Mascola, director of the
county's acute communicable disease control unit. One of the infants
died, likely because of the pathogen, she said.
On Friday, the hospital shuttered the pediatrics intensive care ward
after discovering the bacterium had infected an infant and a toddler
there, Dr. Rosalio Lopez, the hospital's chief medical officer, said in
a statement.
Officials say they've identified the source of the outbreak - a medical
instrument called a laryngoscope used to inspect an infant's larynx -
and don't believe there is a danger to other babies.
Though common, the germ is particularly virulent in those with weak
immune systems such as newborns who are premature or critically ill.