New mothers being contacted after nurse diagnosed with disease

[nursebedlam]

Last Update: Monday, May 10, 2004. 7:27am

New mothers being contacted after nurse diagnosed with disease

The Hunter Area Health Service in New South Wales is contacting 34 women who have recently given birth at the John Hunter Hospital obstetrics unit, after a staff member was diagnosed with whooping cough.

Director of infection control at Hunter Health Dr John Ferguson says the women are being offered antibiotics as a precaution because the staff member was in the obstetrics unit during the contagious stage of the disease.

"She was diagnosed last week and we realised that during the period just before her symptoms came out that she'd been working in the obstetric area, usual nursing care contact, not extremely close but we believe it could have put those mothers and babies at risk," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1104638.htm