LA hospital reopens neonatal unit after bacterial outbreak possibly linked to 2 deaths

Wednesday, December 20th 2006, 8:54 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) Hospital executives said they were confident that a bacterial outbreak possibly linked to the deaths of two premature babies was contained, and the facility reopened its neonatal intensive care unit two weeks after it stopped accepting new patients.

Hospital officials said Tuesday the decision to reopen White Memorial Medical Center's busy neonatal unit was made after consulting with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and other medical experts.

``We're sorry that it happened. We've expressed our condolences to the families, but we feel that we have done everything possible,'' Dr. Rosalio Lopez, the hospital's chief medical officer said in a telephone interview.

White Memorial closed off its neonatal intensive care unit December 4 following an outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that sickened five infants. Officials believe the subsequent deaths of two of the babies may be linked to the pathogen, which is a common but potentially deadly bacterium, particularly to people with weak immune systems.

The hospital also had closed its pediatrics intensive care unit on Friday after discovering two more patients had tested positive for the germ. Executives reopened that unit Monday after determining the bacterial strain that sickened the older children was not passed on by the same equipment that infected the five infants.

Of the roughly two million hospital-acquired infections each year, about 10 percent are caused by P. aeruginosa. The germ can be spread by health care workers, medical instruments, disinfectant solutions and food.

Hospital officials believe the germ that caused the neonatal outbreak was spread by an improperly sterilized laryngoscope, a type of throat tube. The source of the two older children's infection in the pediatric unit has yet to be determined.

An investigation by county public health officials found that instruments were previously disinfected by an in-house sterilization department, but for reasons not immediately clear, the practice was changed in March and the unit's staff began cleaning them.

Lopez declined to discuss the hospital's cleaning policy, but said the medical center will heed advice to clean equipment through a central department.

Dr. Laurene Mascola, director of the county's acute communicable disease control unit, praised White Memorial for alerting authorities early about the problem.

``It's a done deal,'' Mascola said. ``We have the smoking gun.''

David Marin, the father of one of the dead infants, announced Tuesday he was filing a lawsuit against the hospital.

``It was a human error,'' said Marin said outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown as his wife stood behind him, sobbing. ``We just want the hospital to take full responsibility for what they've done.''

White Memorial said in a statement that at least one family had hired a lawyer, but declined to elaborate, citing medical privacy law.