CDC investigates infections at CA hospital

Officials with the CDC have begun investigating a series of bacterial infections within heart surgery patients at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, CA. At least a dozen heart surgery patients have turned up with cardiac surgery infections, and it appears that two patients may have died as a result of being compromised. Five of the infections involved pseudomonas, and the remaining were staphylococcus infections. The outbreak follows on a prior reprimand for the facility, which was fined $25,000 by the state for lacking proper policies and procedures for medication administration and failing to train nurses properly.

The infections seem to have peaked between May and July of this year, but died down since, and the hospital continues to host open-heart surgeries.  Still, neighboring Kaiser Permanente Medical Center has stopped referring patients to Saint Agnes for open-heart procedures.

To learn more about the infection problem at Saint Agnes:
- read this Fresno Bee piece

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