The investigation into the deaths of six babies due to diarrhea at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital are still ongoing.
It has been announced that the health department is one step closer to reaching a conclusion.
CEO Barney Selebano announced Thursday that the virus that the babies contracted is norovirus, a type of community-acquired virus that causes stomach bugs. Selebano went on to explain that they picked it up via human movement in the hospital.
"People walk all around the hospital and encounter other diseases, and then come back into the neonatal ward," he said.
He went on explain the conditions under which the babies contracted the virus.
?All the babies in the neonatal ward were born prematurely and weigh less than 1kg. At the time of the infection, there were about 50 babies in the ward.?
The regulations permit 35 babies in the area.
He also added that the hospital had saved all the other babies in the ward and no new infections had been detected. "There are always infections in a hospital, but this one has been contained."
Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu said the investigation into the babies' deaths would be concluded by the end of the month.
He also added that the deaths of 30 babies in the Natalspruit area between the 9th to the 18th May were completely unrelated to the virus that recently hit Charlotte Maxeke Hospital.
An Investigation into those deaths is also underway.
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