The intensive care unit of St James's Hospital, Dublin, which closed last week because of the presence of a potentially fatal "superbug", reopened yesterday.
The hospital said "extreme measures" were taken to decontaminate the unit of the bug, which was contracted by two patients. It is understood the carrier of the infection died, but it is not clear if death was caused by the superbug.
It is believed the bug, acinetobacter baumanii, was brought into the hospital by a patient who was treated abroad.
The two patients who contracted the infection were put into isolation on Friday and all new admissions to the hospital requiring intensive care were redirected to another part of the hospital.
The medical director of the intensive-care unit, Dr Jeanne Moriarty, said the spread of the infection had been curtailed.
Dr Moriarty said it was unfortunate that isolation facilities for patients in the State were limited. She added that most intensive care units were designed years ago - some of them 20 or 30 years ago - and the fact that the units were open units was an issue in trying to maintain infection control.
"The other issue is the over-use of antibiotics which is a world wide phenomenon," she said.