The special child care unit of the Kalubowila hospital has been closed due to an infection in the ward, Director of the Kalubowila hospital Dr Anil Jayasinghe said. “ The unit treats premature babies who are very sensitive to the environment and other factors. Some of the infants who are admitted to the hospital are faced with a life and death situation and are very vulnerable.  So when there is some sort of infection the usual procedure is to suspend admission which we did about 20 days ago” he said.

The Director pointed out that the unit was completely shut down on the 8th of March. “ after suspension of admission we completely shut down the ward 4 days ago. We have taken all remedial measures and are conducting investigations into it. We expect to re open the Unit by Wednesday (14th March)” he said.

Dr.Jayasinghe stated that this phenomenon is common to any special child care units around the world. “This situation is experienced around the world and is mainly due to the hyper sensitivity of the infants. We have informed all peripheral hospitals about the current situation and they are coordinating the admission and treatment of patients” he said. (HF)