Reasonable Rascal
03-25-02, 02:21
From the Las Vegas Sun:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/mar/24/032402351.html
Report: Mice Infested Mo. Hospital
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -
Maggots were born in the noses of two comatose patients four years ago at a city Veteran's Administration hospital infested by mice and flies, according to a medical journal report released Monday.
The story in the Archives of Internal Medicine details the 1998 infestation. It said mice would sometimes dash over the feet of employees in the hospital director's suite.
Hospital officials said the hospital no longer has any cleanliness problems. Barbara Shatto, the hospital's quality manager, said the hospital scored 99 out of 100 when it was inspected by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospital Organizations in October.
"We learned from that incident and took action to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Pat Landon, the hospital's director of facilities.
The infestation started with a housecleaning oversight, according to the article.
Dr. Stephen Klotz, then the hospital's chief of infectious disease, said the mice moved in
after the cafeteria and food storage areas were dropped from a cleaning list. Some areas
weren't cleaned for at least a year, according to the article.
By July 1998, a pest control contractor put out bait and glue boards to kill the mice.
Inspectors later found dead mice in food storage rooms, mouse nests behind boxes on food shelves, and mouse droppings on the floor of a cafeteria work room. Live mice were found in a large wastebasket.
Cleaners missed some of the dead mice, which attracted flies. Green blowflies like to lay their eggs in dead mice.
Electronic fly-control devices were installed, and pest-control workers began using live traps for the mice.
Some of the flies flew into the hospital's intensive-care unit, where they were trapped by automatic doors and kept away from mouse carcasses.
Maggots were found in the nostrils of one patient on July 22, 1998, the article said. Maggots were found in the nose of a second patient on Sept. 30, 1998.
Klotz said the maggots were removed immediately and that neither patient was harmed by the infestation. The first patient died two days after the maggots were found but the cause of death was unrelated.
"They're ghastly," he said, "but they're harmless."
Klotz said he found a few other cases where flies laid eggs in patients at other hospitals.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/mar/24/032402351.html
Report: Mice Infested Mo. Hospital
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -
Maggots were born in the noses of two comatose patients four years ago at a city Veteran's Administration hospital infested by mice and flies, according to a medical journal report released Monday.
The story in the Archives of Internal Medicine details the 1998 infestation. It said mice would sometimes dash over the feet of employees in the hospital director's suite.
Hospital officials said the hospital no longer has any cleanliness problems. Barbara Shatto, the hospital's quality manager, said the hospital scored 99 out of 100 when it was inspected by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospital Organizations in October.
"We learned from that incident and took action to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Pat Landon, the hospital's director of facilities.
The infestation started with a housecleaning oversight, according to the article.
Dr. Stephen Klotz, then the hospital's chief of infectious disease, said the mice moved in
after the cafeteria and food storage areas were dropped from a cleaning list. Some areas
weren't cleaned for at least a year, according to the article.
By July 1998, a pest control contractor put out bait and glue boards to kill the mice.
Inspectors later found dead mice in food storage rooms, mouse nests behind boxes on food shelves, and mouse droppings on the floor of a cafeteria work room. Live mice were found in a large wastebasket.
Cleaners missed some of the dead mice, which attracted flies. Green blowflies like to lay their eggs in dead mice.
Electronic fly-control devices were installed, and pest-control workers began using live traps for the mice.
Some of the flies flew into the hospital's intensive-care unit, where they were trapped by automatic doors and kept away from mouse carcasses.
Maggots were found in the nostrils of one patient on July 22, 1998, the article said. Maggots were found in the nose of a second patient on Sept. 30, 1998.
Klotz said the maggots were removed immediately and that neither patient was harmed by the infestation. The first patient died two days after the maggots were found but the cause of death was unrelated.
"They're ghastly," he said, "but they're harmless."
Klotz said he found a few other cases where flies laid eggs in patients at other hospitals.