Third child dies from drip-feed infection

A THIRD child has died after contracting a blood infection from an intravenous feed at a Manchester hospital while undergoing treatment for cancer, writes Liz Hunt.

Jennifer Raw, 12, of Bryn, Greater Manchester, who died on Saturday, had been in intensive care at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital since developing the same infection which killed Belinda Coffey, five, and Timothy Davies, nine, last month. Another toddler, Raymond Gahagan, the first to become infected, is now recovering.

All four patients had cancer and were undergoing treatment which suppressed their immune systems and made them vulnerable to infection. Feeds prepared in the hospital pharmacy apparently became contaminated with a bacterium.

Investigations were centred on equipment used to mix feeds in what should have been a sterile environment. Intravenous feeds were brought in from another hospital during the inquiry to find the source of contamination.

David O'Neill, the hospital's general manager, said the latest victim's parents had asked that no details should be released.