Manchester NHS Hospital Infects 7 Babies with MRSA

MRSA is generally a sign of lack of cleanliness and inattention to asepsis

SEVEN babies have tested positive for the superbug MRSA at the region's biggest maternity unit. St Mary's Hospital in the city centre has closed the three neo-natal wards on the unit to new admissions following the outbreak. It is understood MRSA was found on the skin of one baby several weeks ago. The six other cases were picked up during routine skin screening tests on Thursday. The unit cares for the sickest and most premature babies in Greater Manchester.

Doctors stress none of the babies have contracted the more serious MRSA blood infection and none are suffering any ill-effects as a result of the bacteria being found on their skin.

Staff say they have tried to isolate the affected babies in each of the three wards which are intensive care, high dependency and the special care baby unit. There are currently 27 babies on the unit.

Among those found to be carrying the bug is nine-week-old Jaylen Redshaw who was born 15 weeks early weighing just one pound eleven ounces. Today his parents, from Gorton, said they were desperately worried about their child and concerned the hospital had not informed parents soon enough. They said they were also alarmed babies had continued to be transferred from one ward to another.

Jaylen's mum Jacqui Millward, 22, who is a care assistant in an elderly residential home, said: "They told us the incubator was isolation enough, but obviously this is not the case otherwise it wouldn't have spread, would it? "It wasn't until more than six hours after the bug was diagnosed that they told us. I had taken my two-year-old daughter Kenzie on the ward earlier in the day and if other people have done the same it has probably now been spread into the community. "If people had been told earlier then obviously we would all have been able to take further precautions.

"We have now been told that we will all have to be swabbed for MRSA and cannot hold our child until the results are back. "The nurses have told us Jaylen is not in immediate danger, but he was born 15 weeks prematurely so he is obviously very vulnerable. "They told us the same nurse would be treating him and no-one else, but we later found out the same person was looking after another baby.

"There is also broken skin on his foot and on his toe, but until I raised it as an issue they had left the wounds open - that is how the condition gets into the blood. "We are so worried. We have to leave our son's life in their care. Every time the phone rings I think it is the hospital ringing to say it has got into his blood. "If us speaking out about this prompts further precautions and helps protect another child, then it has been worth it."

Hospital bosses said that premature and sick babies are now being sent to other neo-natal units a Wythenshawe, Bolton and Salford on a case by case basis. A spokeswoman for St Mary's said: "We can confirm we have temporarily restricted new admissions to the Neonatal Unit. This is due to a number of babies on the neonatal unit testing positive for MRSA. "We would like to stress however that none of these babies are currently infected; they have been identified through our weekly screening programme to be carrying the MRSA bacteria. "The infection control team is monitoring the situation very closely and, alongside our staff on the unit, have taken steps to reduce the risks to our other babies."

Last winter Salford Royal's baby unit had to be closed after two babies contracted a rare fungal infection

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