The KwaZulu-Natal health department on Thursday evening denied reports that a sixth baby had died from the klebsiella at Durban’s Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital.
Department spokesperson Leon Mbangwa said a sixth baby had indeed died, but not from the klebsiella which it had earlier contracted.
He said the baby was one of seven who had contracted the virus, but that subsequent blood tests had revealed that action taken by medical personnel had cleared the infection.
Local media reported on Thursday that a sixth baby had died from the bacteria.
”According to some media reports a sixth baby demised of Klebsiella pneumoniae at the hospital on Sunday. They are not true and have caused unnecessary confusion,” Mbangwa said.
Of the seven babies who had contracted klebsiella, five had died. Mbangwa said the baby had been born prematurely and suffered from a host of ailments, including a hole in the heart, which had led to cardiac failure.
The deceased’s mother, Lungile Ngema (20) of Mtwalume, was quoted as saying by the Mercury that her daughter, Oyama, was born on November 23 and was one of the two babies infected with klebsiella.
She said she was never told what klebsiella was, or when or how her child had contracted it.
The newspaper reported that nurses had taunted Ngema, saying mothers like her — who gave birth at home — brought the disease to the hospital.
”They made it seem as if it was my fault that my baby had klebsiella. She was born at six months; she came before time and I had her at home before going to hospital,” Ngema said.
”When she was a week old, the doctor came to me and said she had klebsiella, and that she had little chance of living,” she said.
Ngema said she wanted the hospital to account and pay for her child’s death, but that she did not know who to turn to. – Sapa