4 more hospital deaths may be linked to drug-resistant bacteria

TOKYO, Sept. 8 Kyodo -
Teikyo University Hospital said Wednesday that another four people have died
among inpatients infected with Acinetobacter, an antibiotic-resistant bacteria,
and it will not accept new admissions for an indefinite period to prevent
further infection.
The university hospital in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward said 53 inpatients have been
infected -- seven more than the 46 announced earlier -- and four of the seven
inpatients have died.
The hospital, where the first case of in-hospital Acinetobacter infection came
to light last Friday, initially said 27 of the 46 infected patients had died
and in-hospital infections may have been responsible for nine of the 27 deaths.
It is currently looking into the cause of the deaths, noting that there may be
a correlation between the deaths and the infections.
The hospital said Wednesday it will not accept new admissions or ambulance
requests for an indefinite period and will carry out bacteria checks on more
than 800 patients who are currently in the hospital.
It also said it will set up a panel of experts from outside the hospital to
investigate the outbreak, clarify who is most responsible and discuss
preventive measures. The results will be announced in about a month.
Also on Wednesday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said a 76-year-old man,
who died of pneumonia in June at the Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital,
also in Itabashi Ward, after being transferred in February from the Teikyo
hospital, was infected.
The metropolitan hospital announced later in the day that another
antibiotic-resistant bacteria called pseudomonad aeruginosa has been detected
in 20 patients since May last year, of whom four died. A link between the
bacteria and the death of the four patients cannot be ruled out, it added.
The hospital said as 18 of the 20 patients may have suffered in-hospital
infection, it is setting up a team of doctors and nurses to fight the spread of
the superbug.
Acinetobacter appears to be spreading rapidly in Tokyo with Yurin Hospital in
Setagaya Ward discovering that eight of its inpatients aged 59 to 100 had been
infected, of whom four had died.
Health officials from the Tokyo government inspected Yurin Hospital on Tuesday
as two of the four deaths may be linked to the bacteria.
A recent Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry study showed that the 53
Acinetobacter infections reported by Teikyo University Hospital in a period of
around a year are roughly equivalent to 1.5 to 1.6 times the number of
infections reported annually.
Thirty-five infections were reported in 2008, while 32 were reported the
following year.
The study emphasizes the importance of prevention and control measures against
in-hospital infections.
The ministry, which conducted an on-site inspection of Teikyo University
Hospital on Monday, suspects that the hospital's delay in reporting the
outbreak to central and local health authorities may have caused it to spread.
Health minister Akira Nagatsuma criticized Teikyo, saying at a Diet committee
meeting, ''The hospital should have reported the bacterial infection (to the
ministry) in early August at the latest.''
The ministry had already instructed health organizations across the country in
January last year to report cases of Acinetobacter infection whenever they
occur.
''If (Teikyo) had complied with our instruction, it would have informed us much
earlier,'' Nagatsuma said.
The hospital did not mention any cases of infection during a regular joint
inspection by health ministry and Tokyo government officials on Aug. 4 and
another inspection by Nagatsuma on Aug. 30.
==Kyodo