Berlin – Investigators were waiting Tuesday for the results of a post-mortem examination on a third baby to die in as many days at a German hospital after bacteria contaminated their intravenous drips.
Two who had congenital heart defects died Saturday and the third, a baby born very prematurely, died on Monday evening at the intensive care ward of the hospital in the western city of Mainz.
Their feeding solutions had been tainted with Enterobacter cloacae, a common group of bacteria found in human faeces, and Escherichia hermannii, the chief doctor of Mainz University Clinic, Norbert Pfeiffer, said.
Police are still trying to find out how the infections happened and whether anyone can be charged with negligent homicide.
Infections during medical treatment are common in hospitals round the globe, with a 2007 survey showing that in 21 nations, an average 7.1 per cent of patients pick up a bug while in hospital.
That data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said Germany tended better than average with a rate of just 3.5 per cent. Read more…