Children’s Health Hospital in Dallas Relocates Patients
December 12, 2019
Children’s Health Hospital, a pediatric hospital in Dallas, relocated 28 patients to other areas of the hospital to prevent the risk of infection after high levels of aspergillus fungus was discovered after routine air testing occurred.
Aspergillus fungus is an airborne common mold that can live indoors or outdoors. This common fungus is breathed in by most people, but for people who have weakened immune systems, according to the CDC, it can cause “allergic reactions, lung infections, and infections in other organs”.
This fungus affected another children’s hospital in Seattle from 2001 to 2014. The mold was linked to five deaths and nearly 15,000 hospitalizations in 2014 which led the faculty to close the main operating rooms until the mold was under control.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are proactively taking steps to reduce any potential patient risk, including temporarily relocating patients and surgeries to other parts of our hospital,” said a spokesperson from Children’s Health in a statement to The Dallas Morning News.
Children’s Health stressed that no patients have yet to develop infections. They are in strong contact with the patients and families, and are working to get the situation under control.