PATIENTS HAVE the right to know the source of the antibiotic-resistant superbug MRSA, it was said yesterday.
Speaking amid fears of further MRSA cases at Letterkenny General Hospital, Rosemary Cassidy, spokeswoman for the Donegal branch of the MRSA and Families Network, said “Somebody has to stand up and do something. I know there are patient confidentiality rules, but the people have a right to know where the source of infection is.”
Fears of more cases grew after a mother and a two-week-old baby were recalled to the hospital for MRSA tests on Wednesday evening, prompting concerns that the hospital would issue a blanket recall on all babies born there over the last two weeks.
But a statement released by the Health Service Executive (HSE) yesterday said: “As a precautionary measure, the hospital has contacted some other mothers whose babies were born in Letterkenny General Hospital to organise screening of both themselves and their babies.”
Ms Cassidy said the number of cases emerging was “staggering” and called for an immediate investigation. We need to know how many more children have been affected, she said, adding: “God knows how many more babies could be affected. We hear of adults getting the infection all the time, but when it’s a baby, it’s just not on.”
The hospital put a number of measures in places within its maternity unit, including a specialist cleaning operation, after three babies tested positive for the superbug over the last two weeks.
Speaking about the new measures, a HSE spokeswoman said, “From time to time, babies test positive for MRSA and are managed appropriately at the time. On this occasion, three babies tested positive for MRSA in a short timeframe and that is what led to the measures that were put in place.”