An Impenetrable Bacteria Kills 10 Babies In Tembisa Hospital. A bacteria that is impenetrable drugs has had an outbreak at the Tembisa Hospital.
A bacteria that is impenetrable to drugs has had an outbreak at the Tembisa Hospital. The bacteria has taken the lives of 10 babies in two months. There was an outbreak of Carbapenem-Resistant-Enterobacterales (CRE) from the 1st of November to the 31st of December at the neonatal sector that had impacted 17 babies.
Out of the 17 babies that were impacted by the outbreak, 7 of them are still fighting for their lives. The ward was too filled up, there was not enough equipment in the storage, there only a few staff members, it was also hard to put a baby that was infected in isolation. These were some of the issues that got to the outbreak. The Gauteng Department of Health says, “Tembisa Hospital like many other facilities in the province is faced with the challenge of ever increasing demand for services. The 44-bed neonatal unit often admits close to 90 patients.”
The department of health says it is suspected that the Klebsiella pneumoniae was the one responsible for the break out in the CRE bacteria. 15 babies and toddlers in Gauteng hospitals passed away in 2018 due to Klebsiella pneumoniae and necrotising enterocolitis. The Gauteng Department of Health says the various actions in averting the bacteria have happened. The actions include putting in more professional nurses, sending new admissions to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital and the Kalafong Hospital. They have also taken the initiative to go outside to conduct ways to avert or control audit the infection.
by Alexandra Ramaite
