(HQ) Three babies died from a bacterium Streptococcus agalactiae at Hospital San Juan de Dios in San Jose.
As a result of this, the medical center implemented deep cleaning and disinfection measures on Friday in the Neonatology service in order to control the presence of the bacteria.
“The microorganism can cause blood infections, pneumonia and meningitis and that can be lethal,” said Dr. Ileana Balmaceda Arias, medical director.
“As part of the care, the Neonatology service routinely performs different laboratory tests on all premature babies according to their health condition, which allowed on May 19 to give the alert on the presence of two cases of disease associated with this bacteria ”, expressed the medical center.
According to Dr. Balmaceda, “Epidemiological Surveillance and the Infection Prevention and Control Unit immediately began the investigation and the protocols for infection control were activated.”
According to the data provided by the hospital, all were premature babies with weights between 1,500 and 2,280 grams, with approximately one month of life.
