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Third baby dies after receiving contaminated IV feed | Third baby dies after receiving contaminated IV feed |
(35 minutes later) | |
A third baby has died after receiving intravenous feed in a hospital from a batch contaminated with bacteria, it has been confirmed. | A third baby has died after receiving intravenous feed in a hospital from a batch contaminated with bacteria, it has been confirmed. |
Public Health England has not identified the hospital or the baby who died. Officials say this is a new case. | |
The baby did not immediately develop sepsis (blood poisoning) as a result of the feed. Microbiological tests later showed that the bacterial strain implicated in the outbreak was present. | |
This makes a total of 23 vulnerable babies who are thought to have been infected as they were fed through a drip directly into the bloodstream – 19 confirmed and four possible cases. | This makes a total of 23 vulnerable babies who are thought to have been infected as they were fed through a drip directly into the bloodstream – 19 confirmed and four possible cases. |
Of those, three babies have died and their deaths have been referred to the coroner to decide what part the infected feed played. All the babies were being drip-fed in intensive care units and were premature. Many will have been ill before they received the drip containing what is known as parenteral nutrition, a formula that contains all the nutrients the frail and sickly babies need. Most responded to antibiotics. | Of those, three babies have died and their deaths have been referred to the coroner to decide what part the infected feed played. All the babies were being drip-fed in intensive care units and were premature. Many will have been ill before they received the drip containing what is known as parenteral nutrition, a formula that contains all the nutrients the frail and sickly babies need. Most responded to antibiotics. |
Doctors for two of the babies who died – the first and the latest – believe the feed may have played a part in the deaths, but those who were treating the second baby who died, at St Thomas's hospital in London, believe it was not a factor. The first baby to die was nine-day-old Yousef Al-Kharboush, also at St Thomas's. | |
Officials from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are still investigating, they said in a statement. They revealed that the contamination is thought to have occurred within a sterile area of the manufacturing plant in north-west London, although they decline to say exactly what happened. | |
That runs counter to the account given by the manufacturers, ITH Pharma, in June, when news broke of the contamination. The company suggested that the cause was a contaminated raw ingredient which had been delivered to the plant. | That runs counter to the account given by the manufacturers, ITH Pharma, in June, when news broke of the contamination. The company suggested that the cause was a contaminated raw ingredient which had been delivered to the plant. |
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