In June, the health system reported that that an unusual infection, caused by an atypical mycobacterium, was found in 14 surgical patients. On June 27, WYFF 4 reported that three of the 14 surgical patients had died.
Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control and Greenville Health System are investigating the cause of the infection. The investigation is focused on the hospital’s water supply as the infections were caused by mycobacteria that are found naturally in water, soil and dust.
“We now believe that surgery processes involving the use of tap water may have inadvertently brought the organism into the perioperative environment,” said Robert Mobley Jr., MD, GHS’ medical director of quality, according to the report. “Although we use sterile water in or near the surgical sterile field, even something as seemingly safe as pre-surgery hand washing may have contributed.”
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