For some, Roseland infection cases are a call to action

Chi-Town Daily News:

After undergoing survery at a Chicago hospital to fix a broken ankle, Jeanine Thomas almost lost her leg.

The Willowbrook resident was pumped up with antibiotics to stem an infection that turned out to be the dangerous MRSA strain of penicillin-resistant staph. It was embedded in her bone marrow.

Doctors, she says, never told her that she was ill with such violent bacteria. She theorizes she was sickened by microbes hidden on surgical tools used to fix her ankle.

The issue was underscored this week after two patients at Roseland Community Hospital died after being infected with acinetobactor, a common bacteria found on skin, and in dirt and water.
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The Illinois Hospital Association concluded in a recent report that incidents of MRSA in Illinois hospitals were on the rise – 19,428 cases through September 2008 compared to 7,845 during that period in 2007. However, the report said only about 5 percent contracted MRSA during a hospital stay.

Thurman says bacterial infections are a common problem, despite the efforts of hospital staff. Roseland Community Hospital has two infection control specialists on staff, she says.

“It’s not rare,” she says. Acinetobactor, which infected seven people at Roseland Hospital between January 26 and February 19, is “common for nursing home patients, for patients who have been intubated.”

The infected patients that died earlier this week at Roseland both suffered from numerous illnesses, Thurman says, making it difficult to determine if the bacteria contributed to their deaths.

Following the outbreak at Roseland, Thurman says the Chicag o Department of Public Health launched an investigation, while infection control specialists at the hospital disinfected the ICU and ensured the bacteria didn’t spread to other wings of the hospital.

“We are a community-based hospital, and our mission is to help people stay well,” she says. “There are occasions where infections may occur, not only at Roseland, but (also at) other hospitals. We do everything we can to minimize the occurrence of that.”