The master of the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street, Dublin, said yesterday no baby had died of MRSA at the hospital.
Dr Michael Robson was responding to reports that a baby who had been infected with the MRSA antibiotic-resistant super- bug at the hospital had died. The Irish Medical News reported that while the baby had MRSA, it was also ill from "other complications" when it died.
It claimed the baby was one of two who were confirmed as having MRSA bloodstream infections at Holles Street between July 2004 and June 2005. It said the other baby recovered.
Dr Robson said he could not comment on individual cases, but he knew of no baby who had died from MRSA in the hospital.
He said he wanted to reassure parents who were already aware that five babies in the hospital who were "colonised" by MRSA but not ill with it, had been isolated in the last week.
He feared people might make a connection between this fact and the fact that a baby's death had been reported but they should not, he said. If any parent was worried they should contact the hospital, he added.
He said the hospital routinely checked babies for MRSA infection. "No baby is ill with it at the hospital," he said.
Many people carry MRSA on their skin and it does not cause them any problems. This is the type of MRSA which the five babies in isolation at the hospital have. However, when MRSA gets into the bloodstream through open wounds, it can prove fatal.
Dr Robert Cunney, a specialist with the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, said bloodstream MRSA infections were not a significant problem among children in the Republic.
An increase had been noted in these infections among children in the UK but not here, he said. The level of risk for children picking it up in hospital was considerably less than for adults, he added.