The microbiological analyzes carried out do not make it possible to establish the responsibility of the milk in the 2 deaths. The Lactarium will therefore resume its activity as of next Monday.
The Ile-de-France lactarium attached to the Necker hospital (Paris) will resume its activity on October 3, the Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) announced on Friday. The delivery of breast milk was suspended in early September, with recall of batches, as a precaution, after the suspicious death of two very premature babies contaminated by the bacteria Bacillus cereus. A 3th infant had also been ill but is doing well today.
This bacterium is found naturally in the soil, water or plants. In healthy people, it causes only minor food poisoning. But in the most fragile, such as very premature babies, severe complications can occur, such as sepsis or meningitis. Antibiotics are the only remedy for this infection.
No link with milk
A thorough inspection of the lactarium, batches of breast milk sent to neonatal services and the two neonatal services affected was then launched on September 3 to understand the causes of these contaminations. The investigation focused in particular on the circuit of milk from the Necker lactarium, from its arrival at the bottle until distribution to the newborn.
In addition, microbiological and genetic analyzes carried out by the Institut Pasteur and the Cochin hospital were also carried out in order to determine the origin of the bacteria identified in newborns. The results did not allow to find a common source between the pathogen, milk or lactarium.
“To date, no microbiological analysis has made it possible to establish the responsibility of the milk obtained from the lactarium in the cases detected,” indicates the AP-HP. Consequently, in agreement with the health authorities, the AP-HP has decided to resume the activity of the Ile-de-France lactarium and the delivery of milk from Monday 03 October 2016. “
About thirty establishments delivered
From that date, the 28 hospitals in Ile-de-France and 3 in the provinces will again be supplied by the Necker lactarium. Until then, other establishments had taken over, in particular that of Marmande, which made it possible to cover all needs.
A new action plan has also been drawn up to improve the bio-cleaning of floors and surfaces and better control the temperature for storing and packaging milk. A reinforced monitoring system has also been put in place.
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