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Babies Moved From Hospital After 3 Test Positive For Potentially Deadly Bacteria

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- The Prince George's Hospital Center has moved nine babies out of its neonatal intensive care unit and into another hospital after three infants tested positive for a potentially deadly bacteria Tuesday.

The babies who tested positive are not showing any symptoms of illness, but the hospital isn't taking any chances with the Pseudomonas Aeruginosa.

Pathologists are investigating two recent deaths of other babies in the same unit, but so far have found no connection to the bacteria.

Hospital officials believe the bacteria originated in water pipes leading into the building. They stopped using tap water in the unit and are now disinfecting the plumbing.

Water quality experts are also collecting samples to determine where the bacteria is coming from and how long it's been there.

The bacteria is common, but can be harmful to some patients.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 51,000 people in healthcare settings get infected with it every year. In 13 percent of those cases, it's resistant to medication. Four hundred people die from it each year.

Family members of newborns in other parts of the hospital say they're concerned, though hospital officials say there's no evidence that any other patients have been put at risk.

The rest of the hospital is still open.

Hospital guidelines call for NICU infants to only come in contact with sterile water. In other infection cases, the bacteria has spread on the hands of healthcare workers or by equipment that gets contaminated.

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