Prince George’s Hospital Center has found that three infants have pseudomonas, according to NBC 4.
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A Maryland hospital closed its neonatal intensive care unit Tuesday and transferred the unit’s patients to other hospitals after three babies tested positive for a deadly bacteria that has already claimed two lives, according to multiple reports.
“Serious Pseudomonas infections usually occur in people in the hospital and/or with weakened immune systems”, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website.
The bacteria was found in a pipe, a hospital spokesperson told WTOP.
Dimensions Healthcare Corporation, the nonprofit that operates county hospitals, said Tuesday that nine patients in that NICU have been transferred to other hospitals in the area while authorities investigate the source of the Pseudomonas bacteria. The Washington Suburban Sanitation Commission issued a statement reporting that water samples at a station near the hospital were clear and showed no signs of the bacteria that were present on the NICU patients.
The hospital is working with the Prince George’s County Health Department, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine to identify the source of the outbreak.
“However, healthy people can also develop mild illnesses with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, especially after exposure to water”, the CDC continues. “Eye infections have occasionally been reported in persons using extended-wear contact lenses”.
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Stay with News4 for more details on this developing story.
