This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jun/04/fifteen-babies-infected-fluids-intravenous-drips

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Fifteen babies poisoned by infected fluids from intravenous drip Baby dies of blood poisoning from contaminated IV drip
(about 1 hour later)
One newborn baby has died and 14 others are being treated for blood poisoning caused by bacteria from an infected batch of intravenous fluid distributed to a number of hospitals around the country. A newborn baby has died and 14 others are suffering from blood poisoning after they were infected by a contaminated batch of liquid food distributed to intensive care units across London and the south-east of England.
The affected babies were in neonatal intensive care units in six different hospitals. Most were premature and all were frail and very vulnerable. According to Public Health England, which is investigating the 15 cases, they were all given nutritional fluids into the bloodstream via a drip. The particular batch of fluids was contaminated with Bacillus cereus, a bacterium which is common on the surface of the skin but can cause septicaemia if it gets into the bloodstream. The babies were in neonatal intensive care units in six separate hospitals because they were premature, poorly and vulnerable and too frail to be fed by mouth. The liquid food was being administered by drips. The units had all received supplies from the same batch of liquid feed from a specialist company based in north-west London, ITH Pharma Limited.
The surviving babies are said to be responding to antibiotic treatment. The emergency developed rapidly over the weekend with one baby after another falling ill, triggering a frantic search to identify the source of the bacteria causing the life-threatening septicaemia.
"This is a very unfortunate incident and PHE have been working closely with the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) to investigate how these babies could have become infected," said Prof Mike Catchpole, in charge of the investigation at PHE. The 14 babies that survived are responding to antibiotics but still poorly, said Public Health England (PHE), and have underlying problems that make them even more vulnerable.
"Given that the bacteria is widely spread in the environment, we are continuing to investigate any other potential sources of infection. However all our investigations to date indicate that the likely source of the infection has been identified. We have acted quickly to investigate this issue alongside the MHRA and we have taken action to ensure that the affected batches and any remaining stock of this medicine is not being used in hospitals." The first case occurred in Chelsea and Westminster hospital on Friday and was reported to PHE on Saturday, when staff failed to find a reason for the symptoms, which resembled very severe food poisoning. Over the weekend, the hospital identified further cases.
The fluids, which are given to babies too immature or weak to take nutrition by mouth, was manufactured by ITH Pharma Limited. PHE says the company has identified an incident at its factory which could have caused the contamination. By Monday, babies with septicaemia were being reported by Guy's and St Thomas' NHS trust where one of the babies subsequently died.
The hospitals involved are: Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust (4 cases), Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (3 cases), The Whittington hospital (1 case), Brighton and Sussex University hospitals NHS Trust (3 cases), CUH Addenbrookes (Cambridge University hospitals) (2 cases) and Luton and Dunstable University hospital (2 cases). In total there have been four cases at Chelsea and Westminster, three at Guy's and St Thomas' and another baby became ill at the Whittington hospital, also in London. Experts thought the problem could be restricted to London until Brighton and Sussex University hospitals trust reported three cases, Addenbrookes in Cambridge two cases, and Luton and Dunstable University hospital two more. It was not until the early hours of Wednesday morning that the contaminated batch of liquid feed was identified as the problem.
An alert has been issued to all neonatal units in the country, although PHE says the batch has now expired and it believes there will probably be no more cases. "Initially they were looking at the environment – at the taps and the laundry," a PHE spokeswoman said. But with no clues from the physical environment, attention turned to the parenteral nutrition (intravenous feeding). "Doctors were asked what feed they had used," said the spokeswoman, identifying the potential source.
The emergency developed rapidly over the weekend, as one baby after another developed life-threatening septicaemia. The first case occurred in Chelsea and Westminster hospital on Friday and was reported to Public Health England on Saturday, when staff failed to find a reason for the symptoms, which resembled very severe food poisoning. Over the weekend, the hospital identified more cases. The neonatal units had all received supplies from the same batch of liquid feed supplied by the specialist company ITH Pharma Limited. Investigators from the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority) contacted company staff early yesterday. Discussions with the staff established that an incident had taken place at the factory which could have led to contamination with a bacterium known as Bacillus cereus, which is safely carried on the skin but can cause food poisoning if it enters the gut or septicaemia if it enters the blood stream.
By Monday, babies with septicaemia were being reported by Guys and St Thomas. One of those died. Another baby became ill at the Whittington hospital, also in London. Experts thought the problem could be restricted to London until hospitals in Cambridge, Brighton and Luton also sounded the alarm. "This is a very unfortunate incident and PHE have been working closely with the MHRA to investigate how these babies could have become infected," said Professor Mike Catchpole, in charge of the incident at PHE. "Given that the bacteria is widely spread in the environment we are continuing to investigate any other potential sources of infection. However all our investigations to date indicate that the likely source of the infection has been identified. We have acted quickly to investigate this issue alongside the MHRA and we have taken action to ensure that the affected batches and any remaining stock of this medicine is not being used in hospitals."
It was not until the early hours of Wednesday morning that the liquid feed was identified as the problem. "Initially they were looking at the environment - at the taps and the laundry," said a spokeswoman for Public Health England. "Doctors were asked what feed they had used." The feed has only a seven-day life, and the batch expired on 2 June. Experts from the MHRA are now inspecting the plant where the feed was manufactured to try to establish exactly what happened.
The neonatal units had all used the same batch of parenteral nutrition (liquid feed) from a specialist company based in north-west London, called ITH Pharma Limited. Investigators from the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority) contacted company staff in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Discussions with the staff established that an incident had taken place at the factory which could have led to contamination with a bacterium known as Bacillus cereus, which is safely carried on the skin but can cause food poisoning. "All three babies affected have responded to treatment and are progressing well," said Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS trust. "We have spoken with the parents of the three babies and have prepared a briefing note for all other parents of babies on the unit."
Chelsea and Westminster NHS trust said all four babies affected were responding to treatment. "Every baby on the unit has been screened for this bacterium as a precaution and even more stringent infection control measures have been put in place. Initially admissions to the unit were restricted but we are now returning to full operational capacity," it said in a statement. "The Trust took immediate action and were the first to inform Public Health England as soon as the problem was identified and we continue to work closely with them to investigate this issue."
Dr Jennifer Birch, clinical director for neonatal intensive care at Luton and Dunstable University hospital, said: "We are informing all the parents whose babies are being cared for in our neonatal intensive care unit about this situation. We are reassuring them that the infection does not spread from baby to baby. The two babies who have been infected are being treated with antibiotics and we are using an alternative type of parenteral nutrition."