The Health Ministry has brought in a specialist from abroad to help treat a newborn baby with symptoms of Legionella infection, who remains in a critical but stable condition in the neonatal intensive care unit at Makarios Hospital.
Results of tests on samples taken from the private hospital where the baby was born and from the family’s home are expected on Wednesday or Thursday, said Rebecca Kokkinofta, director of the State General Laboratory. The process usually takes four to five days to produce a first indication, and no result is announced until its reliability has been confirmed, she said.
The first sample from the hospital examined by the laboratory came from a scheduled check that almost coincided with the case, Kokkinofta said. Testing was already under way and had produced a positive indication independently of the case becoming public.
Health Minister Neophytos Charalambides said earlier that initial tests had found signs of Legionella at two points in the private hospital’s water network.
Large hospitals have always been covered by Legionella testing, Kokkinofta said, and this year a programme covering private hospitals began. It started with the largest private facilities and will be gradually extended across Cyprus. Targeted tests can also be carried out when needed, alongside scheduled checks.
The laboratory does not collect samples itself. They are collected and sent by the competent authority, and the laboratory is responsible for analysing them, she said.
Legionella analyses follow a specific protocol and are given priority because of their importance to public health. Even so, they cannot be completed immediately, as the laboratory needs time to assess the findings.
