Mum catches MRSA from her baby

And first-time mum Jenna Hodgkiss, 20, said she was 'appalled' that she had to wait before telling that her son Kian had become infected with the PVL-strain of MRSA.

Now she is also fighting the superbug and will require an operation after developing an abscess on her chest from breastfeeding her son.

The superbug has not made its way into the bloodstream, where it can be potentially deadly.

But she has questioned why she and her baby were sent home where they could spread the superbug further, rather than being treated in hospital.

Ms Hodgkiss said that she believed the hospital "did not want MRSA near the building".

And a professor who is an expert in hospital superbugs has said that mum and baby should have been told they had MRSA and to avoid contact with other people.

But hospital bosses said that it was normal practice not to treat people with MRSA skin infections in hospital.

Earlier this week we revealed that the hospital's neo-natal intensive care unit had been closed to new admissions since mid-September following an outbreak of MRSA.

An "extremely small number" of babies were affected and they were being treated in "separate areas within the unit", according to hospital bosses.

Health chiefs came in for criticism from the watchdog tasked with scrutinising their work after failing to make news of the outbreak public until asked by the Lancashire Telegraph.

It was only last Friday, almost three weeks after Kian was born, that the hospital admitted that the tot had MRSA.

Ms Hodgkiss and partner Wayne Jenkinson have now made an official complaint to the hospital.

She said: "When Kian was born on September 15 he was sent to intensive care.

"He had a few problems but nothing really serious.

"He was allowed home a few days later but he had developed an infection in his groin."

She said that Kian was taken to see a doctor at the hospital where a swab was taken of the infection and she was given an anti-bacterial cream.

Ms Hodgkiss, of Marlborough Road, Accrington, said: "At no point was I was told that MRSA was a possibility and when we took him home we weren't taking any extra precautions.

"I continued to breast-feed him and we were both handling him as normal."

As well as carrying the PVL organisms in his infected groin he also had it on his skin and in his nose. He is now clear of the bug.

Ms Hodgkiss has now tested positive for the superbug and she has had to have an operation on the abscess.

She said: "The way we have been treated by the hospital is disgusting.

"If there was even a possibility that it was MRSA we should have been told. We weren't and now it has spread.

"It has been very badly handled by the hospital. We should have been there getting treatment. Not left to walk around with the bug not knowing what was wrong with us.

"The problem is not necessarily with the state of the ward or cleanliness but just the lack of information. It feels as if we are being lied to."

Professor Richard James, an expert in healthcare associated infections, said that the family should have known as soon as possible that Kian was carrying the MRSA bug.

Prof James, who works at the University of Nottingham, said: "It is very important for people to know what is happening because this strain can be spread very easily.

"It can be spread easily from nurses to children and between family members. The secrecy is a big problem. Everything should have been kept above board.

"This woman clearly has an infection and it must be taken seriously. This is not a trivial complaint.

"It is easily transferable by contact with other people, especially other family members.

"Patients should be advised on exactly what they have got and that they should avoid contact with people.

"Even simple things like sharing a towel can spread the infection."

Coun Roy Davies, chair of the Blackburn with Darwen health scrutiny board, said the hospital should have revealed the extent of the MRSA problem sooner.

He said: "The problem has been going on for almost a month and I thought it would have been dealt with a lot quicker, especially where babies are concerned."

Mrs Rineke Schram, medical director for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, reassured the public that no patients had MRSA in their blood stream.

She said: "There are also marked differences between having an abscess or an infected wound, which is skin-based, and having the MRSA bacteria present in the blood stream.

"If the latter is the case, symptoms of being ill can be much more noticeable.

"I understand this is a confusing time and worrying time for people who have spent time on the neonatal intensive care unit.

"If anyone has a specific medical concern they can contact the hospital to seek assurance and advice."

Mrs Schram added: "MRSA on a normally healthy individual does not need hospitalization.

"They can normally be treated by their GP with antibiotics.

"Similarly if a baby is found to have colonised MRSA on their skin and the organism is not in the blood stream or other tissue, then again there is no need for hospitalization.

"MRSA can live on the skin in up to 1 in 100 people within the community and as long as they remain fit and healthy and observe good hygiene practice, it should not pose a problem."