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By You Soo-sun
Police will look into the infectionmanagement system at Ewha Womans University Medical Center in western Seoul, after one of four infants who died there last week was found to have been infected with a virus, indicating possible negligence by the hospital.
They will question as many as eight members of staff next week to check how the facility was operated, including the administration of medication, staff allocation and outsider's access to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) there.
Police said Sunday hospital medical records revealed that the hospital was aware that one of the four deceased premature babies had been infected with Rotavirus, a common virus among infants and children that is transmitted through feces or vomit.
Earlier, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the police the same virus was found in all four of the deceased infants in the NICU.
Authorities regard this as a critical factor in the ongoing investigation as it may serve as an indicator of the facility's level of hygiene.
On Dec. 19, four premature infants died of cardiac arrest within a span of 90 minutes. They were two girls, 9 days and 24 days old, and two boys, 5 weeks and 6 weeks old.
Police officers and forensic investigators searched the NICU and computer center and confiscated medical devices and records following suspicions raised by the parents that the deaths were caused by medical malpractice or some other preventable cause.
Forensic investigators conducted autopsies to determine the cause of the deaths; while a complete report will take about a month, initial findings pointed to the possibility of a bacterial infection in three of the deceased babies.
The ongoing investigation may affect the government's grading of the institution, currently designated as one of the highest-ranking general hospitals in the country.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare designates hospitals into three levels every three years and is expected to announce its decision for the next three years this week.
