Contaminated ham found at Queensland Children’s Hospital

A bacteria which can lead to miscarriage in pregnant women and cause severe illness in people with weakened immune systems has been detected in food served to patients and families at one of Queensland’s largest hospitals.

SICK children and their families have been exposed to potentially deadly listeria bacteria in sliced ham at the Queensland Children’s Hospital.

The bacteria was detected in ham sandwiches and salads served to patients on wards and in the hospital’s emergency department, which may also have been shared with family members and visitors.

Although listeria rarely causes problems in healthy people, experts say it can cause miscarriages in pregnant women and severe illness in the elderly and people with compromised immune systems, such as sick children.

The deadly bacteria listeria monocytogenes can cause miscarriage and severe illness.

Children’s Health Queensland issued a statement on Friday saying the contaminated ham was served at the hospital between May 10 and 20. No details were given about where the hospital sourced the contaminated ham.

It was detected through routine food and safety testing at the hospital and removed from patient menus.

The hospital has stressed the ham was not served to patients in the Bone Marrow Transplant Ward, who “would be most at risk from listeria due to their compromised immune systems”.

Families of children who may have eaten the contaminated ham are being contacted “as a precaution” and made aware of the signs and symptoms of listeriosis — the disease caused by infection with listeria.

Contaminated ham has been served at the Queensland Children’s Hospital. Picture: David Clark

“No cases of listeriosis-related sickness have been reported in or to the Queensland Children’s Hospital to date,” a hospital statement said.

But the incubation period — the time between infection and symptoms — after eating food contaminated with listeria is about three weeks, on average, but can be as long as 70 days.

Symptoms of listeriosis, which can be treated with antibiotics, include fever, headache, aches and pains, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Opposition deputy leader Tim Mander described the contamination scare as “another health debacle”.

“Queenslanders go to hospitals to get better, not to get sicker,” Mr Mander said. “I feel for patients and visitors that went to this hospital during this time of infection, they now have added stress wondering whether they are going to get sick over the next few days.”

Mr Mander criticised the timing of the public announcement about the listeria contamination.

“This is another Friday dump of bad news by the Palaszczuk Government,” he said.

In February, a woman in her 80s died in Victoria after listeria bacteria were detected in food from a Melbourne catering firm that supplied hospitals, aged care homes and Meals on Wheels.

The woman died on February 4 in Melbourne’s Knox Private Hospital.

Victorian health authorities shut down the I Cook Foods catering service after samples of the listeria bacteria were found in its kitchen following an investigation into the cause of the woman’s death.

The business reopened in March after Victoria’s chief health officer was satisfied “required changes had been made to food handling processes”.

Originally published as Contaminated ham found at Queensland Children’s Hospital