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Mycobacterium Chimaera Infection

22 January 2017

“The Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery (SCTS) wishes to extend its deepest condolences to the families of those patients who have died as a result of mycobacterium chimaera infection and those patients that have suffered ill-health after being infected.

“Patient safety is of absolute importance to SCTS. The risk to patients from surgery where heater-cooler units are used is very low and has been identified as a worldwide issue. The guidance issued to surgical centres by NHS England, Public Health England and the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in November 2015 has added further protections for patients and no further cases of the infection have been identified since.

“We welcome news that NHS England has begun a process which will see them contact patients who have had heart valve surgery since January 2013 to make them aware of the potential, very low risk of infection.”

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