Our tiny baby has killer bug
Parents told premature Charlotte has same bacteria that claimed lives of two others EXCLUSIVE ANOTHER HOSPITAL INFECTION
A PREMATURE baby is in intensive care after picking up three hospital infections in six weeks – one of which contributed to the deaths of two other infants.
Charlotte Alexander’s parents were devastated when she tested positive for deadly staphylococcus aureus.
THE parents of a premature baby are demanding answers after she tested positive for a hospital infection linked to the deaths of two other tots.
Charlotte Alexander has a rare antibiotic-resistant strain of staphylococcus aureus.
Two premature babies at the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital, Glasgow, died after an S. aureus outbreak last month.
One of the tragic tots had been in the incubator next to Charlotte, who was born weighing just 1lb 5oz.
Charlotte’s mum, Lynn, 32, said: “The baby beside us was very unwell and passed. We have lived with other parents losing their babies. We have seen their tears. We have seen the horrible state of them being told their babies were going to die.
“We asked if Charlotte had got this (infection) but we were told she didn’t. But at the back of our minds, something felt wrong.”
On January 30, Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board announced two babies had died and a third was “stable” after contracting the infection.
Yesterday, they confirmed Charlotte and three other infants had been found to have S. aureus on their skin.
They said they were not infected and were not being treated for the infection.
Lynn, however, said a swab of Charlotte’s throat had tested positive for the bug. The tot is in intensive care.
Since December, five people have died from hospital infections in the Glasgow area.
Last night, Labour’s health spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: “NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde must do everything it can to reassure the public that infection control procedures are being closely examined.
“We need to understand what has caused these infections and what action can be taken to prevent further outbreaks.”
S. aureus is the third hospital infection Charlotte has picked up in six weeks.
She was born 12 weeks premature in the maternity unit at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley, on January 4 and transferred to the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital in Glasgow.
Charlotte was fed intraveneously through her umbilical cord but nurses were concerned about the risk of infection so they switched to using a cannula – a small flexible plastic tube – inserted into a vein in Charlotte’s leg.
A day later, she had become very ill, with staphylococcus at the site of the insertion.
The infection turned into sepsis and she was treated with five different types of antibiotics.
Cleaning in the ward was increased and swabs were taken.
Charlotte’s stomach became distended and Lynn noticed bradycardia – incidences of a heart rate that is much slower than normal.
She raised her fears with staff but says a nurse told her it was “normal in premature babies.”
On January 29, a second staph infection was found and a scan of Charlotte’s stomach revealed a large mass.
She was sent to the neonatal department at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow. There, the couple were told Charlotte was very unwell.
Lynn,of Greenock, said: “We weren’t allowed to touch her. We had gone from, ‘She’s fine’, to her being put on a ventilator.”
Chalotte had surgery to remove the mass, which built up after the second staph infection caused a hole in the tot’s gut, allowing fluids to leak out. Again the couple asked if it was S. aureus. Again, they were assured it was a different type of staphylococcus.
Lynn said that on February 13, Charlotte was transferred to the RAH in Paisley because there