A newborn baby who developed symptoms of Legionella infection on Friday remains in a critical but stable condition in the neonatal intensive care unit at Makarios Hospital. Initial tests have found signs of the bacterium at two points in the water network of the hospital under investigation.
Health Minister Neophytos Charalambides said the authorities were continuing their investigation to establish the exact source of the contamination and how it happened. He declined to say exactly where the bacterium was found, saying the issue was very technical, but added that, as he understood it, it was in the pipes.
He confirmed that other newborns had been at the hospital. Their parents have been contacted, and so far no other case linked to the hospital has been identified.
The hospital carried out regular checks, the minister said, according to the information he had, and he believed the last one was a few months ago. Ministry of Health inspectors, who supervise hospitals, check among other things whether hospitals carry out their own checks. The Labour Ministry also issues a certificate every two years for an appropriate safety and risk management system, and the hospital’s own checks are examined as part of that process. The Health Ministry intends to look at shortening the two-year period.
Sanctions remain possible if the investigation finds that legal obligations were not met. The minister declined to prejudge the findings, citing the technical nature of the case, but said that “if anyone did not comply properly with the legislation, all necessary measures will be taken”.
Michalis Mendris, a biopathologist and microbiologist with the Health Ministry’s Epidemiological Surveillance Unit, told philenews that according to the information available, the baby’s condition was critical but stable.
Water samples taken from both the hospital and the family’s home are being tested, and the results are expected in the coming days, he said. The tests take several days because specific data is needed to draw reliable conclusions. The concentration of Legionella in the water will show the true scale of the problem.
