Partial quarantine precaution at Suva’s CWM Hospital

Over the past 23 days, four infants have died at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital from pre-existing, life-threatening conditions, including perinatal asphyxia, pneumonia and severe prematurity. Subsequent blood and spinal fluid tests showed that the infants had also contracted the acinetobacter baumanii bacterium. There is no evidence that this bacterium, which is wide-spread in hospitals around the world, caused the deaths of these infants. However, as a precaution, the Ministry of Health has introduced a partial quarantine in sections of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where these infants were treated. All new neonatal admissions requiring intensive care are being treated in areas of the NICU where there is no serious risk of bacterial infection.

Permanent Secretary for Health Phillip Davies said: “We are taking every action to minimise the risk of bacterial infection, and we are working closely with local expert staff from the World Health Organisation to ensure our work is in line with international best practise. I must stress again that there is no evidence that any infant deaths have been caused by infection from this bacterium,” said.

Bacterial infections, including from acinetobacter baumanii bacterium, are an ever-present risk forhospitals in every country in the world, particularly in intensive care units.

Hundreds of millions of patients around the world contract healthcare-associated infections each year, including in developed countries, where approximately 30 per cent of patients admitted to an intensive care unit are affected by at least one healthcare-associated infection.