An inquest into the death of a woman who died at a Dublin hospital after contracting a deadly bacterial infection which "terrified" experts heard that there were serious concerns about hygiene at the hospital around the time of her death.
Irene Curran (53), of Rivervalley Dale, Swords, Co Dublin, died at Beaumont Hospital on October 15th, 2005, more than 30 days after a virulent strain of the bacterium pseudomonas was identified in her system.
The Curran family's solicitor, Esmund Keane, told the inquest at Dublin City Coroner's Court yesterday that there were concerns about hygiene levels at Beaumont at the time of Mrs Curran's death. Her family was concerned this was the underlying reason behind her contraction of the deadly infection.
Consultant microbiologist at Beaumont Hospital Dr Edward Smith told the inquest the consultants at the hospital were "among the most vociferous complainants about the hygiene levels" at that time. "We did have misgivings about it. We were very anxious, but, thankfully, the hospital has made big improvements."
Dr Smith said he could not rule out that Mrs Curran had contracted the infection through a health worker who had not washed their hands properly or from the hospital environment.
"I don't know where this organism came from. I've never seen it behave in such a virulent way before. The way it became so virulent terrified me. We had to use antibiotics not used since the 1950s."
He said he believe the bug most likely originated within Mrs Curran's body, rather than from an external source. No other patient picked up the infection.
The inquest heard that Mrs Curran underwent a successful operation on August 25th at Beaumont for an upper-back disc problem, from which she made a good recovery.
She was being considered for discharge eight days later when she developed a chronic shortage of breath. An X-ray the following day, on September 3th, revealed that Mrs Curran had contracted pneumonia caused by the bacteria staphylococcus aurous.
She was admitted to the intensive care unit and treated with antibiotics. On September 18th her condition began to deteriorate rapidly and an X-ray revealed a very serious pneumonia infection caused by the bacterium pseudomonas.
The infection initially responded to antibiotics, but became progressively virulent and aggressive and Mrs Curran died on October 15th.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell adjourned the inquest into Mrs Curran's death to call other medics involved in the case.
"This is obviously a case which has exercised the experts in the field," he told the court.