1,300 Surgery Patients Exposed to Bacterial Infection by Calen C. Smith

A Pennsylvania hospital said Monday that it will be telling about 1300 patients that they may have been exposed to a bacterial infection (nontuberculosis mycobacterium or NTM) during open heart surgery after identifying 8 patients who contracted the infection, four of which died. The Centers for Disease Control and prevention did not rule the infection the cause of the four deaths because those patients had underlying medicals conditions. However, the hospital is acknowledging the infection as a possible factor in the deaths. NTM is a natural bacteria that occurs in soil and water, and can sometimes be found in tap water. Humans become infected by inhaling the bacteria.


The hospital will be contacting all patients that underwent open heart surgery between October 1, 2011 and July 24, 2015. According to a news release only the people who went through the surgery are thought to be at risk. No physicians, staff, or any patients with noninvasive heart procedures are thought to be at risk.










I believe that this type of thing should not be happening. It shows carelessness on the people who work in the hospital, especially the ones who are supposed to be cleaning and making sure everything is sterile. I think that some procedure should be implemented to make sure that everything in the Cardio ward, as well as the other wards are safe because it isn't fair to the patients from years back even to now.