''Klebsiella'' virus in SAT Hospital, claims KGMCTA

Thiruvananthapuram, May 7 (UNI) Admitting that ''Klebsiella'' virus was found at the government-run Sree Avittom Thirunal (SAT) Hospital where 38 newborns reportedly died due to infection, the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers' Association (KGMCTA) today said the source of the virus was not yet located.

Talking to mediapersons here, KGMCTA General Secretary R Mahadevan and other leaders claimed that though most of the infants died because of low birth weight, some of them lost life due to ''klebsiella'' infection.

Dr Mahadeven said comparatively the mortality rate of infants who weighed below 1.5 kg at birth was very much higher than those born with normal weight of 2.5 kg.

According to SAT hospital records, the survival percentage of babies weighing between 1.5 kg and 2.5 kg was 85, while it was 48 for babies between one kg and 1.5 kg, he added.

Stating such deaths had occurred in the past, but the hospital succeeded in bringing it under control. However, this time it failed to check the outbreak effectively.

Though the doctors had admitted to newborns dying from the infection in December and February, no ''Klebsiella'' virus was found in the blood samples of the babies who died in the recent incident.

The hospital authorities had taken various precautionary measures to check the infection spreading to other babies, he said.

UNI