A leaked report has revealed that a deadly superbug may have been an “associative factor” in a small number of deaths at University Hospital Limerick.
It follows an internal and external investigation launched by the UL Hospitals Group into the possible link between CPE and patient deaths between 2009 and 2017.
New findings leaked to the Limerick Leader conclude that while no death was a direct result CPE, the deadly bug may have been an “associative factor” factor in the deaths of seven patients aged in their fifties to eighties.
Over the past year, the files of 36 patients named in a whistleblower’s letter were reviewed in an external investigation conducted by UK expert microbiologist Dr Robert C Spencer.
The review, which was completed earlier this year, is due to be published in the coming month once family of those affected are notified.
CPE is an antibiotic-resistant bacteria which is harmless in the gut, but fatal in up to 50% of cases when it gets into the bloodstream.
The UL Hospitals Group has previously said that CPE is recognised as being endemic in the MidWest Region and the hospitals group has developed comprehensive control measures to deal with Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms.
It has also told the Limerick Leader that it accepts the conclusions of this report.
