Preemie died after intestinal germ infection

Premature dies after infection with intestinal germs

28/12/2013

It is still unclear how he could become infected, but it is well known: A premature boy died of a bowel germ in a hospital in Frankfurt. A related germ was found in three more children.

Final assessment not yet possible
After the death of a premature boy through a gut germ in the Frankfurt Bürgerhospital, the clinic is in search of the source of the infection. „We do not yet know how the germ could reach the station“, said the medical director Oliver Schwenn yesterday at a press conference in Frankfurt. He further explained: „The intestinal germ is currently being examined more closely, a final assessment is not yet possible.“

Three more children are not endangered
The three other children, in which a related germ had been found, but were not at risk. For the time being, the clinic will not accept any more premature babies. According to the information, the boy was born on December 6th in the 25th week of pregnancy at 770 grams. „The boy's health deteriorated rapidly on the evening of December 19th. He could not breathe on his own“, according to the responsible senior physician of the clinic for neonatology, Silke Ehlers. The little one eventually died of a blood infection. The doctors assume that it is about a multidrug-resistant germ, because the treatment with antibiotics showed no effect. The germ probably comes from the bacterial group Enterobacter.

Police turned on
Meanwhile, the police have an ad. As a spokesman told hr-online on Friday, it was posted on Boxing Day. But it is still unclear why or against whom. The death was classified as unclear and body and medical records had been confiscated. „An autopsy was initiated“, said the spokesman for the police. The hospital has so far no knowledge of an advertisement, as Schwenn emphasized.

More than one million premature babies die each year
Every year around one million premature babies die worldwide. This was the result of the United Nations (UN) first premature newborn report last year. According to the report, there is an overall increase in premature births, both in developing and industrialized countries. Every year around 15 million children are born prematurely worldwide. „More than every tenth baby born in the world is born too soon“, said one of the main authors of the first premature infant report, the employee of Save the Children, Joy Lawn. According to the experts, around 75 percent of the associated deaths would be avoidable with the simplest countermeasures. (Ad)

Picture: N. Schmitz