According to the article published by El Nuevo Día on September 11, 2013, ten people died in the UPR Hospital of Carolina after being infected by a fatal bacterium known as acinetobacter baumanni. By not following the protocols to control infections, said hospital allowed the outbreak and spread of this fatal bacterium throughout the patients on the intensive care unit, causing the hospital to be under observation by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Department of Health. From March to August 2013, 35 people have been infected by the bacteria in the hospital.
The bacteria acinetobacter baumanni is resistant to the most powerful antibiotics and it is very difficult to eradicate form the medical institutions in which it manages to spread. It causes serious infections in the lungs, blood, brain, urinary tract and flesh wounds.
“Procedures to prevent the cross-contamination were not followed” said the Secretary of Health, Francisco Joglar. “The problem was the lack of infection control”. The intensive care unit closed and the Department of Health requested the CDC’s intervention. The last documented case was on August 2013.
Unbelievably, the Secretary of Health said that sanctions for the lack of protocols were not going to be imposed.