Eight Preterm Infants at Rambam Found Carrying Drug-Resistant MRSA

Eight premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa were found in recent days to be carriers of CA-MRSA, a strain of Staphylococcus aureus resistant to several antibiotics, Ynet reported. None of the babies has developed symptoms or illness, and the case was reported to Israel’s Health Ministry.

The ministry said all eight carriers are being treated with an ointment, and that an epidemiological investigation identified one staff member as a carrier. As a result, all staff are being tested to prevent further spread. The ministry said the hospital is following its instructions, the unit is currently closed to transfers from other hospitals, and officials are monitoring the required steps until the testing is complete.

Rambam said the screening in the NICU showed several babies carrying community-type CA-MRSA, stressing that this was carriage, not disease. “The medical condition of the screened infants is normal and they have no clinical signs of illness,” the hospital said. The carrier infants were isolated separately from the other babies, and are being treated by a dedicated team that does not care for the rest of the unit. Parents were updated, and the infection-prevention unit at the Health Ministry was notified. Rambam is still trying to identify the source of the infection, and the NICU is not accepting transfers from other hospitals for now.

MRSA can affect anyone, but the CDC says the risk is higher among hospitalized patients, nursing home residents, people with close skin-to-skin contact, and those in crowded or unsanitary settings. The infection can cause skin lesions, pneumonia, bloodstream infection, and death if untreated, though there are antibiotics that still work against it. This is not the first resistant infection in Rambam’s NICU, in September four babies fell ill and one died, prompting a temporary halt to new admissions. In last year’s Health Ministry infection report, Rambam ranked second among Israel’s major hospitals for both “alert pathogens” and antibiotic-resistant bloodstream infections, with 45 hospital-acquired cases per 100,000 hospitalization days.