A study by the Patients Association have found a large number of babies, many just a few days old, have been infected with the deadly superbug methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals across Britain.
The Department of Health is alarmed about the increased number of cases of babies with MRSA that it has commissioned a £140,000 study into the problem.
Professor Hugh Pennington of Aberdeen University, a microbiologist and expert in hospital-acquired infection, said: “If babies are getting MRSA that is of concern because it shows there is something seriously wrong with the infection control procedures”.
He added it was likely the infection had been carried into the neonatal units by people walking from ward to ward. “If we had been more aggressive in tackling the problem, like the Dutch and the Scandinavians, this would not have happened”.
