Hospital superbugs put SA babies at risk

AN alarming number of newborn babies are contracting potentially deadly infections in South African hospitals as doctors battle to stem the rise of harmful bacteria — including so-called superbugs that are resistant to almost all medicine.

Infection outbreaks at children’s hospitals and maternity wards were among worrying new statistics presented at an international medical conference in Cape Town this week.

An outbreak last year at Tygerberg Children’s Hospital, thought to be due to faulty hospital equipment, infected 12 babies, four of whom died, according to one study.

The good news is that the rate of new infections appears to be decreasing thanks to improved infection control measures.

The Tygerberg study found a steadily decreasing number of hospital-acquired infections — a finding supported by other local studies.

But the level of drug resistance among potentially deadly bacteria appeared to be increasing, researchers warned.

The latest findings come amid growing concern over drugresistant organisms, particularly in poor communities in which many people are malnourished and have weakened immune systems.

Several international speakers at this week’s paediatric infectious diseases conference in Cape Town drew attention to the shortage of new drugs to deal with the problem. The delegates also heard that some previously extremely rare infections, such as whooping cough, were reappearing in South Africa and other parts of the world.

Mark Cotton, a Stellenbosch University expert in childhood diseases, said there was a need for greater infection control. “Anyone who goes into an intensive care unit anywhere in the country may be in trouble,” he said. “We have three academic infection control units in the country, which are understaffed — we really have a long way to go.”

Nicolette du Plessis, a specialist in paediatric infectious diseases from the University of Pretoria and spokeswoman for the South African Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases, said the absence of new antibiotic drugs meant the country was faced with a return to

Anyone who goes into an intensive care unit may be in trouble

the “pre-antibiotic” era. Hospital staff were increasingly relying on prevention rather than cure in the face of drug resistance. “You have to concentrate on getting the basics right,” she said.

Experts agree that a major cause of drug-resistant bacteria is the incorrect use of antibiotics.

Another worrying factor was the massive and undocumented use of antibiotics in the agricultural sector, where they are added to animal feed, Du Plessis said.

Other local research findings presented at the conference included:

A significant increase in “gram-negative” organisms — highly drug resistant — in more than 45 000 blood cultures taken from children over a five-year period at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town; and

High levels of gram-negative organisms among 112 HIVinfected children and infants undergoing surgery at the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg.

Earlier this year, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases confirmed 63 cases of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, collectively known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, at its laboratory since they first appeared in South Africa less than two years ago.