A media report revealed that at least nine newborns at a care center in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province were diagnosed with pneumonia, a finding that prompted experts to call for evaluating risks and plugging loopholes in postnatal care centers against contagious diseases.
Nine newborns from a care center were confirmed to have become infected with pneumonia at a local hospital in Shenyang. One of the babies was discharged from the hospital after proper medical treatment.
The center, named Xinxiangyueshiguang, has been closed, according to the market watchdog of Huanggu district of Shenyang. In the wake of the incident, the Huanggu district government conducted a comprehensive examination of all postnatal care centers in the region, aiming to plug similar loopholes.
The Shenyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that the newborns were infected with a respiratory syncytial virus. How they got infected has not been revealed yet.
The clustered pneumonia infections in the center exposed loopholes, including the lack of a standard management system and low-quality disinfection, as well as insufficient capabilities in medical treatment, which can make postnatal care centers vulnerable to contagious diseases.
Some parents of the infected newborns accused the center of concealing the facts, when they clearly knew an infection had occurred and did not provide professional advice after finding some babies had pneumonia symptoms, leading to further infections among other children.
The Huanggu District Consumer's Association said on Sunday the care center had reached an initial agreement with the parents of infected newborns over compensation after catching the virus at the institute.
