1,300 Patients at Pennsylvania Hospital may Have Been Exposed to Dangerous Bacteria
Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say 1,300 patients who had open-heart surgery at a central Pennsylvania hospital since 2011 may have been exposed to a bacterial infection that has killed 4 patients.
At least 8 patients treated at WellSpan York Hospital in York, Pennsylvania, have developed the bacterial infection, caused by nontuberculous mycobacterium, or NTM, from a medical device used during open-heart surgery. Four of those individuals have died, though it hasn’t been confirmed that the infection was the primary cause. [1]
