Alberta Health Services confirms 1 surgery patient got infection from machine

EDMONTON – Alberta Health Services says one patient contracted a bacterial infection associated with a machine that is used during open-heart surgery.

Last December, AHS notified about 11,500 former open-heart surgery patients of the risk of infection related to potential exposure to bacteria during their procedure.

The Federal Drug Administrationand Centers for Disease Control in the U.S., as well as Health Canada, have reported a potential risk for Mycobacterium chimaera infection associated with certain heater-cooler units, which are used to warm and cool blood during adult and pediatric open heart surgery.

AHS uses these units at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary and at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute and the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton.

AHS said at the time the risk of infection was extremely low.

The bacteria cannot be spread by person-to-person contact and AHS says infections grow slowly and may take months or even years to develop.

Symptoms generally progress over several weeks and may include fever, unexplained, persistent and profuse night sweats, unintentional weight loss, muscle aches, fatigue and redness, heat or pus at the surgical incision site.