July 12, 1999
Web posted at: 11:47 a.m. EDT (1547 GMT)

The unknown infection, possibly due to poor sanitation, affected babies in Rome's Policlinico Umberto Uno hospital

From Rome Bureau Chief Gayle Young

ROME (CNN) -- At least 14 newborns at one of Europe's largest hospitals have been infected with an intestinal virus, sparking a public outcry over the safety of the aging facility.

The mysterious infection began spreading from baby to baby earlier this summer at Rome's Policlinico Umberto Uno, whose maternity ward has ushered in generations of Italian infants.

Investigators suspect poor sanitation caused the outbreak. Some of the babies' mothers say the delivery room was dirty and trash littered the hallways.

"If you clean less, if the instruments are old, if there are too few people doing too much work -- this could be the base of the infection," said health director Stefano Cencetti.

A year ago, sections of the same hospital were closed after a different infection blinded several patients. Inspectors then discovered hundreds of sanitary violations, including mousetraps in operating rooms and blood samples left out in the open.

The hospital was ordered to clean up its facilities. However, the new outbreak among babies has prompted an uproar from critics who believe the hospital is old and obsolete.

Hospital officials defend their institution, saying it helps provide low-cost public health care.

"Certainly there are a lot of problems, but we are talking about a very unusual event," said Dr. Adolfo Sauro Lapi, the hospital's director of pediatrics.

The pediatric ward has been temporarily closed and the government is providing emergency funding to improve sanitation. But local officials say it will take time to convince a skeptical public that the hospital can live up to its billing as a provider of health care.