Pseudomonas on Altnagelvin taps

Published Thursday, 02 February 2012

Pseudomonas has been detected in a small number of water outlets in the neonatal unit at Altnagelvin.

Altnagelvin taps are replaced over the bug. (© UTV)

A baby died from the infection at the Londodnerry hospital before Christmas.

All taps there are now being replaced, a statement from the Public Health Agency said.

It continued: "Water sample results for the Western Trust show that Pseudomonas has been detected in a small number of water outlets in the neonatal unit at Altnagelvin.

"As in all neonatal units, including Altnagelvin, steps had already been taken to ensure that babies are not coming into contact with the water supply.

"Only sterile water is being used for direct care of babies and a range of very strict infection control measures are also in place."

A different strain of the bacteria was responsible for the deaths of three infants at the Royal Jubilee hospital last month.

The Public Health Agency said that no babies at Altnagelvin are infected, but two have the bacteria on their skin.

The statement adds: "It is not clear at this stage exactly what the implications are of finding Pseudomonas in water supplies and what longer-term monitoring is required.

"National guidance is being developed urgently for the whole of the UK, with experts taking account of all of the scientific evidence available, including the evolving situation in Northern Ireland."

Comments

2 Comments

kieran in belfast wrote (111 days ago):

i was in the hospital with my newborn twins in dec 2010/ jan 2011. my babies were kept in the royal in intensive care for weeks. while i was using the tap water to put in a bowl for washing my babies i noticed that the water was cloudy (almost a milky colour) i reported it straight away and the nurse told me that it was ok to use it. i didnt use it. i used pure water in a bottle just incase. but for all i know when i wasnt in the hospital the nurses on duty would have been using the tap water to clean babies. its fair to say that not a week goes by when one of my kids isnt sick. could they have caught something from the tap water??? answers need given. my kids were in the hospital for over a month when they were born and the water was always cloudy and nobody seemed to fix the water or at least turn it off to stop people using it. who do i turn to now to get this checked out? the hospital or my doctors?

genuine comment in tyrone wrote (112 days ago):

the western health trust has a track record -dire - slack in all clinical areas