FOUR children aged three or under have died after suffering MRSA infections at Britain’s most famous children’s hospital, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal.

They were among 20 infants whose bloodstream contained MRSA, the most dangerous form of the superbug infection, at Great Ormond Street hospital, London, in the past five years. While 16 of these toddlers recovered, four died and the infection definitely contributed to the death of at least one of them.

The infant, whose precise age was not disclosed, died in 2003 after being infected with MRSA at another hospital and moved to Great Ormond Street.

The figures also reveal that 357 children aged three and under have been found with MRSA at the hospital in the past five years. Most of these would have been less risky forms of infection found in the nose, saliva or an open wound.

Public relations managers at Great Ormond Street originally told The Sunday Times that only seven children aged three and under had been found to be infected with MRSA in the past three years. But, in response to an official request under under the new Freedom of Information Act, the hospital disclosed the full figures.

There has been mounting concern that MRSA has penetrated neonatal units and maternity wards. Last December 14-week-old Connor Bull became one of the youngest known MRSA victims when he caught the infection at Leeds General Infirmary. Claire Wilkinson, his mother, had to scrub down before she could touch him. He managed to fight off the infection after 19 weeks in intensive care.

As MRSA — methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus — has become an election issue, hospitals have come under increasing pressure to keep details of infections and deaths secret. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust last week claimed it could not reveal how many babies had been infected or died from MRSA at its hospitals due to government guidance about the disclosure of sensitive information in the build-up to the election.

The Department of Health is also understood to have complained to the Patients Association that the publication of its survey in February showing high rates of MRSA infections in newborn babies overshadowed the government’s NHS Think Clean Day.

The Conservatives have made the fight against hospital-acquired infection a central election pledge. Last week they promised £52m to fight MRSA in hospitals. Michael Howard, the Tory leader, said his party would put matrons back in charge of hospitals and give them the power to shut infected wards.

Tony Blair has called on the public to put the threat of MRSA “in context”. Labour also insists there is evidence that MRSA rates are beginning to fall.

Information obtained under the act also shows that a two-year-old baby infected with MRSA at Bristol Royal hospital for children in June 2003 died. The hospital could not say whether MRSA contributed to the death because the child did not die in the hospital.

Statistics obtained from Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool show that 80 toddlers aged three and under have caught MRSA there, many on neonatal wards, in the past three years. The figures also reveal that increasing numbers of toddlers are being infected. Seven toddlers caught MRSA at Alder Hey in 2002-3; this rose to 28 in 2003-4 and 45 in the past year.

Last August three-year-old Kian Williams died after picking up MRSA at Alder Hey. He had suffered a “relatively trivial” injury while jumping off steps.

In February a two-day-old baby became the youngest victim to die in hospital from MRSA. Luke Day was born a healthy baby weighing 7lb 7oz but died 36 hours later at Ipswich hospital in Suffolk. Microbiologists say a doctor or nurse was the most likely source.

Professor Hugh Pennington of Aberdeen University, a microbiologist and expert in hospital-acquired infection, said: “This confirms that MRSA is now a problem that affects babies and young children and not just older people and patients who have had a lot of surgery. If we want to tackle MRSA it is a prerequisite that we have accurate information about the scale of the problem.”

This week the actress Leslie Ash, who almost died after becoming infected with a hospital superbug similar to MRSA, will speak about her ordeal at a Patients Association conference about the dangers of dirty hospitals.

Additional reporting: Holly Watt

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