Another patient has died after an open-heart surgery procedure at York (Pa.) Hospital, bringing the total number of patient deaths tied to a rare bacterial infection to five, according to a York Daily Record report.
York, Pa.-based WellSpan Health spokesman Brett Marcy made the announcement of the patient death. According to Mr. Marcy's statement, the patient had surgery in December 2014 and died this month.
This is the fifth York Hospital patient for whom infections are considered a "contributing factor" to death. All total, eight York Hospital patients have likely been infected. The three surviving patients are still being treated.
The infections have been linked to a device that heats and cools patients' blood during surgery.
Earlier this month, the manufacturer of the heater-cooler device Sorin Group requested confirmation that York Hospital received a letter in July 2014 that warned of the infection risk posed by the device. The hospital is unable to confirm whether it ever received the warning notification.
To learn more about the infection cases at York Hospital, watch the video below.
More articles on infections:
Penn State Hershey Medical Center contacts 2,300 open-heart surgery patients who may be at risk of infection
WellSpan says it never received infection warning letter from manufacturer of device that led to 4 patient deaths
WellSpan York notifies 1,300 patients of possible bacterial exposure after 4 die from infection