Hospitals Struggling as Criticism of Crisis Management Mounts

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,767087,00.html

Was it sprouts? Or was it cucumbers, tomatoes or lettuce? The search for the cause of the deadliest E. coli outbreak on record continues in Germany. As of Monday evening, the death toll had climbed to 22 and the number of infections likely surpassed 2,200, the country's disease control authority, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). A number of other infections were also reported across Europe, and even as far afield as the US -- with most of those believed to have visited the outbreak epicentre of Hamburg before falling ill.

Hospitals in the northern city-state and in neighboing regions report working at their limits to treat the growing number of patients suffering from a rare strain of the bacteria Enterohemmorhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), never before seen by scientists in an outbreak. The aggressive mutant strain of two separate E. coli bacteria has caused severe complications in more than one-third of patients, who have developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), which can lead to kidney failure. Doctors are scrambling to provide kidney dialysis for these patients, reportedly rushing them between cities in ambulances because only a limited number of machines are available. Meanwhile hospital workers are said to be giving up weekends and vacation to meet growing demand. Fears of blood bank shortages have also sparked calls for citizens to donate their blood.

On Tuesday, the German hospitals association (DKG) said its members were overwhelmed with the financial strain of the outbreak, and demanded government aid. "In light of the E. coli epidemic I appeal to politicians to take back the financial cuts planned for hospitals," DKG managing director Georg Baum told daily Rheinische Post. The situation proves just how important keeping beds and personnel available at clinics can be, he said, explaining that healthcare institutions in affected areas had only managed to stay afloat because they were swapping staff. "The clinics are doing everything necessary for the care of the sick -- without considering whether their services will be compensated by health insurers later," Baum told the paper.