MRSA at Christchurch hospital

Recently there was a small outbreak of MRSA at Christchurch hospital in the neonatal ward.

The outbreak of the superbug MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) indicates a breakdown in the new hospital's infection-control procedures.

However, none of the four babies developed a serious infection and none remained in the unit, Canterbury District Health Board chief medical officer Nigel Millar said last night.

Thankfully, none of the children appear to have had a severe infection or died from the disease. This could possibly be attributed to the children in question not being on any particular antibiotics when they contracted the organism. Without antibiotics to select for the growth of the MRSA it would have had a growth disadvantage against other normal microflora. For all intents and purposes, they probably got rather lucky with this outbreak and that it didn't occur in a ward where there were more vulnerable children (such as intensive care or similar).