Boston hospital cited after staph outbreak among mothers, newborns

The first case of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, was identified in November, and in response to the hospital's report of a cluster of infections among labor and delivery patients, state and Boston public health officials began investigating in December.

All of the patients were infected with the same strain of staph bacteria after discharge from the hospital, suggesting a common source of infection -- possibly outside the hospital, such as a pediatrician's office or play group, Dr. Anita Barry, director of the infectious disease bureau of the Boston Public Health Commission, said in an interview.

In a post on his Running a Hospital blog this morning, hospital chief executive Paul Levy wrote: "While we are justly proud of many of our quality and safety initiatives at BIDMC, we have to acknowledge that we still fall short in a number of ways."

The post included the text of a memo that hospital executives sent to employees yesterday. "These infections have been, for the most part, superficial skin infections and breast infections. It is important to note that no babies in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit have been affected," it said. "We are thankful that all identified infections have been successfully treated, in most cases with antibiotic cream or pills. We are working to identify any other patients who may have been affected. It appears that these clusters of infection have not impacted other parts of the hospital."

The memo describes steps the hospital has taken to halt the spread of infections, including testing employees and patients and strengthening efforts on hand hygiene and sterilization.

(READERS: If you or anyone you know was infected with MRSA at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, please contact Globe reporter Patricia Wen today at wen@globe.com, or 617-929-7843.)