SAN JUAN – Outbreaks of bacterial infection at two Jamaican hospitals have claimed the lives of 18 babies since June, the government said Wednesday.“I want to start by expressing my support to the families involved. As a father myself, I know what it is like to have a sick child, but I cannot begin to imagine what a parent goes through when they lose a child no matter the reason,” Health Minister Fenton Ferguson said in a statement.
Ferguson said the ministry has already sent teams to the University Hospital of the West Indies and the Cornwall Regional Hospital, where a total of 42 newborns were infected and 18 died.
The infections were caused by klebsiella and serratia, two common bacteria.
Most of the fatalities were premature babies.
The Health Ministry said it has taken steps to increase monitoring of sanitation practices, improve training of hospital staff and restrict items allowed into nurseries, among other measures.
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