No New Infection At Hospitals – Chief Medical Officer

Chief Medical Officer at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Marion Bullock DuCasse, says there has been no new infection caused by outbreaks of the klebsiella and serratia bacteria at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) and the Cornwall Regional Hospital.

Dr. Bullock DuCasse informed that at the Cornwall Regional Hospital the last new case was seen on October 14, while for the UHWI, the last new case was seen on October 15.

She was speaking at the Jamaica House media briefing, held at the Office of the Prime Minister on October 28.

“We have been taking measures to ensure that we heighten all our precautions to minimize any spread,” the Chief Medical Officer said.

The infections have led to the deaths of 19 premature babies since June of this year.

Dr. Bullock DuCasse pointed out that the Ministry has strengthened its infection prevention and control measures at the healthcare facilities affected.

“This meant isolating the babies who were infected, making sure that all new admissions were in a different area; the provision of additional equipment and supplies; the hiring and redeployment of staff; close monitoring of the environment; and the provision of daily reports,” the Chief Medical Officer informed.

Meanwhile, Dr. Bullock DuCasse said the Ministry will continue to collaborate with its partners, adding that the Health Ministry is awaiting a report from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) on its assessment of the situation.

She noted that the ongoing effort to improve the country’s maternal and child health services will continue with the input of projects, such as the Programme for the Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality (PROMAC), under which Jamaica was allocated $2.8 billion (€22 million) by the European Union.

The objectives of PROMAC include reducing the incidence of neonatal deaths due to inadequate access to high dependency care; and reducing maternal deaths due to inadequate access to emergency obstetric care.

“The Ministry of Health continues to work along with the teams in the field at all hospitals, to ensure that our protocols are enforced and that our reporting mechanisms…which ask that hospitals report all outbreaks to their parish health departments and the Ministry’s national epidemiology unit, work,” Dr. Bullock DuCasse said.