21 deaths in neonatal center spark inquiry

AN INVESTIGATION  to “clarify” the startling increase in baby deaths in a  Social Security Fund (CSS)  medical center will be kept open say hospital officials.

There were 21 deaths in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Arnulfo Arias Madrid  Hospital in July.

The director of Epidemiology of the entity, Rudick Kant, said that at the moment there are “Indications” that the increase in deaths in July was caused by the presence of high-risk pregnancies, twins, and infants born with congenital malformations reports La Prensa.

However, he sd that they wish to deeper investigation into factors that affected the deaths.

According to the entity, an alert was issued, since at the end of July when deaths totaled 21 when the monthly average in the Intensive Care Unit was from eight to 11 at most.

However, Kant ruled out that the deaths are related to the outbreak of some epidemic or nosocomial infection., he said that they study individually each one of the files of the mothers and their babies.

Gladys Guerrero head of Nosocomial Infections of the CSS did not rule out that because they are very premature children, some of them could acquire an infection.

He also mentioned that none of the malformations were related to Zika, transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

CSS figures show that 5,000 babies are born each year in the Arnulfo Arias Madrid Hospital Complex of whom 900 are premature.

José González specialist in fetal maternal medicine of the CSS said that among twin pregnancies were children who had severe and advanced complications. Others suffered congenital malformations or came to the hospital seriously ill.

Among the malformations were: defects in the heart. Gonzalez noted that these were infants between 23 and 24 weeks of gestation, that is, between five and five and a half months of life.

The head of the Maternal and Child program, Sara Campana, called on pregnant women to have their prenatal check-ups done in time to detect abnormalities.

She said that when reviewing the children’s files they found women who started with their prenatal control in the second trimester, that is, at 20 weeks.

Xavier Sáez-Llorens, chief of Infectology at the Hospital del Niño, said there are always months in which the number of deaths deviates from the average. sometimes above and others down.

However, he said it is “important” to await the final report that will emerge when they conclude the epidemiological evaluations.

The coordinator of the National Negotiating Medical Commission, Domingo Moreno, questioned overcrowding in the neonatal ward.