York hospital warns open-heart surgery patients about infection

The hospital staff called the eight patients who had the infection, and letters were sent to the 1,300 patients who could have been exposed to the bacteria, according to the release.

“The safety, health and well-being of our patients is always our highest priority”, Noll said.

With at least eight patients reportedly developing a serious infection after surgery at the WellSpan York Hospital, authorities were quick to notify about former patients who may have been exposed to the same infectious agent.

The heating-cooling system is like a heat pump or radiator system that circulates hot or cold water into closed tubing in machines pumping blood during open heart surgery.

The hospital said it learned of the risk after reading about it in a medical journal and a short time later became aware of several surgery patients with NTM infections of the type identified in the study. Preliminary findings indicate a firm link between the NTM infections in patients and patient exposure to the heater-cooler devices during open heart surgery.

Health officials have they have come across four deaths but they are still not sure whether the deaths were associated with the infected medical devices.

Four of the patients at WellSpan York Hospital later died, with the infections “likely a contributing factor”, hospital officials said, citing a joint investigation with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Last week, the CDC issued recommendations to health officials, health care providers and health care facilities to be on the lookout for any such cases and to take steps to prevent them.

York Hospital has asked the patients who believe they might have symptoms to contact their doctors as soon as possible.

The devices were replaced, as a result of the CDC’s investigation, with new equipment in July.

York Hospital said an internal review found “its cleaning protocols for [heater-cooler devices] did not align perfectly with the original guidelines provided by the device manufacturer”.

“The new equipment is being meticulously maintained according to the enhanced cleaning procedures”, Noll said.

“The Department of Health acted quickly to identify the source of the infection to protect the public’s health”, said Secretary of Health Dr. Karen Murphy.

No one from the department was immediately available to discuss whether the same heater-cooler devices are used at other Pennsylvania hospitals, and whether other patients might be at risk. “The collaborative work between public health officials and WellSpan York Hospital has helped provide critical data and evidence for national action”.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a safety communication about the devices earlier this month, saying it had received 32 reports of contaminated units worldwide since January 2010, most of which were in Europe.