1 dead, 5 infected by mold that halted hospital surgeries

SEATTLE (– Seattle Children’s hospital has revealed that one patient has died and five others have been infected by a potentially dangerous mold that has forced the medical center to close all of its main operating rooms.

The hospital disclosed the infections and death to the Seattle Times on Tuesday in response to follow-up questions regarding the closures of four operating rooms on its main Seattle campus May 18 because of Aspergillus mold and of the remaining 10 operating rooms May 24.

The hospital said operating rooms have been infested by mold – off and on – for about a year, likely because of deficiencies in the operating rooms’ air handling and purification systems.

Children’s public relations manager Alyse Bernal wrote in an email that three patients were infected last year and three this year. The patient who died developed the infection in 2018.