Human carrier

Doctors now say that the dispersal pattern shows that a patient was the source.

“A painstaking and thorough piece of detective work was necessary in order to find the source of the infection”, writes Helse Vest on its Internet pages.

What happened

On 08 February, a serious antibiotic-resistant strain of the bacteria infected over 90 percent of babies in the premature ward at Stavanger University Hospital.

At a press briefing, senior doctors told reporters that one child was seriously ill, and risked having to stay in complete isolation for several months.

Elisabeth Schanche, the hospital’s head of information, told reporters at the time that

“The child who has contracted the infection is very premature, and is now being treated.”

The premature ward was completely isolated, with strict hygiene controls in force, to avoid risk of further contamination.

A common bacteria

“The normal strain of Klebsiella can be found everywhere in nature, in the soil, and on humans, either on the skin, or in the intestines. What is so special about the strain they have found in Stavanger is that it is resistant to many antibiotics”, Preben Aavitsland, divisional director and senior doctor at the Norwegian Institute for Public Health told Aftenposten.no on 08 February.

A total of 51 children have shown traces of the bacteria, and the child that was infected is well again, according to Stavanger Aftenblad.

The hospital does not wish to release any further details.