Sixth patient dies from listeria linked to sandwiches and salads in hospitals
- Patient is thought to have acquired listeriosis from Good Food Chain products
- They were at hospital run by Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Beverley Sowah, 57, and Enid Heap, 84, are among the other five listeria victims
A sixth person has died after eating pre-packaged sandwiches and salads linked to a listeria outbreak at hospitals in Britain, health officials revealed today.
The patient, who has not been named, is thought to have acquired listeriosis from Good Food Chain products while at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The trust runs Worthing Hospital, Southlands Hospital in Shoreham-by-Sea and St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, but it is not known where the patient was residing.
Patients are suspected to have died after eating pre-packaged sandwiches and salads linked to the same supplier, the Good Food Chain (file picture)
A Public Health England spokesman said: ‘The multi-agency team investigating cases of listeriosis linked to sandwiches and salads can confirm that, since the last update, there has been another death linked to this outbreak.
‘The total number of deaths linked to this outbreak is six. The individual who sadly died was one of the nine previously confirmed cases.
How the listeria scandal unfolded
March 25: Enid Heap, 84, admitted to Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI)
April 15: Beverley Sowah, 57, also admitted
April 26: Beverley Sowah dies
May 6: Enid Heap dies
May 15: Ian Hitchcock, 52, admitted to Royal Derby Hospital
May 16: Public Health England (PHE) tells MRI the listeria strains which infected Mrs Sowah and Mrs Heap are linked
May 20: Inquest on Mrs Sowah opened and concluded, death given as natural causes
May 24: PHE identifies the infected patients all ate sandwiches supplied by Good Food Chain
May 25: All hospitals told to withdraw Good Food Chain sandwiches
May 29: MRI informs coroner in Manchester that the deaths of Mrs Heap and Mrs Sowah are linked to an outbreak
June 7: North Country Cooked Meat named as the source; six infection cases and three deaths
June 8: Mr Hitchcock dies at Nottingham City Hospital
June 12: Manchester coroner serves court order on PHE and Food Standards Agency to supply information – they do on June 17
June 14: PHE reveals cases of infection have risen to nine; five deaths
June 17: Health Secretary Matt Hancock reveals eight hospitals affected, promises hospital food review
June 26: Food Standards Agency tells Good Food Chain it does not believe the firm is the source of the outbreak
June 27: Good Food Chain announces it is going into liquidation, meaning the loss of 125 jobs. The inquiry into the outbreak is now focused on North Country Cooked Meats in Salford
August 1: Public Health England announces a sixth person has died
‘The individual is considered to have acquired listeriosis from Good Food Chain products while at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
‘Public Health England continues to test all samples of listeria on an ongoing basis to check if they are linked to this outbreak.
‘To date, we have tested 34 samples and none are linked to the outbreak. There have been no new cases of listeriosis linked to this outbreak.
‘Our investigations continue and the public should be reassured that the risk continues to be low.’
It comes a month after two women who died after eating hospital sandwiches contaminated with listeria were revealed as an ex-nurse and a retired chemist.
Beverley Sowah, 57, was undergoing treatment for advanced breast cancer and died on April 26 having developed sepsis – a known consequence of listeria infection.
Grandmother Enid Heap, 84, a fellow patient at Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI), was admitted in March with breathing difficulties. She died of lung disease on May 6 with her family next to her, an inquest was told.
After their deaths, tests revealed they were both infected with the same strain of listeria later linked to sandwiches.
But it was only after families for both women had held funerals that they were informed contaminated hospital food was implicated in their deaths.
On June 21, a coroner investigating both cases said their families were ‘shocked and distressed’ to learn that the outbreak might be to blame.
On May 25, sandwiches from Staffordshire-based supplier Good Food Chain were withdrawn from 43 NHS trusts.
But it was not until two weeks later on June 7 that Public Health England (PHE) revealed it had traced the listeria to fillings supplied by North Country Cooked Meats, based in Salford.
Last month the health agency said a total of nine people had become infected, of whom five had died.
The first victim to be identified was businessman Ian Hitchcock, 52, who was being treated for cancer at Royal Derby Hospital.
What is listeriosis and how does it spread?
What is listeriosis?
Listeriosis is a rare but deadly infection caused by eating food contaminated with a bacteria called listeria monocytogenes. There are about 170 cases of listeriosis in the UK every year, and it kills about one in four of those affected. Most people who eat food contaminated with listeria develop mild flu-like symptoms that pass within a few days. But in high-risk individuals, the listeria can spread around the body, leading to life-threatening complications including sepsis.
How does it spread?
Listeria is most commonly spread in pre-packaged sandwiches and ready meals, as was the case in this outbreak. It can flourish with or without oxygen and, unlike many other bacteria, thrives and reproduces at temperatures as low as 0°C. This enables it to survive in the fridge and pass through food-processing equipment and the food chain. Historically, the bug has been associated with soft ripened cheese, such as camembert or brie, as well as pate, sliced meats, salad leaves and raw unpasteurised milk. You can also catch listeria from someone – for example, if you eat food they have handled when they have not washed their hands.
How can it kill you?
The listeria bacteria enters the intestinal system in contaminated food, before colonising the liver where it multiplies. If the body is unable to fight off the infection, it can lead to sepsis or meningitis, which can kill within hours. Listeria bacteria have the ability to hijack immune cells and live within human cells, making it very difficult to treat. It is diagnosed with a blood test and treated with antibiotics.
Who is at risk?
Listeria frequently proves deadly for those with weak immune systems – with pregnant women and newborn babies most at risk. Pregnant women are advised to avoid all soft cheeses because even if a listeria infection causes only a mild illness in the mother, it can spread to their unborn baby with devastating consequences. NHS England said more than a quarter of pregnant mothers with listeriosis lost their babies. People aged over 60 years are also deemed to be at high risk of developing listeriosis, as are those who having chemotherapy, which suppresses their immune system.
The cause of his death is yet to be determined but at a hearing Derby’s senior coroner Dr Robert Hunter said the father of twins contracting listeria was ‘not contested’.
Mr Hitchcock, of Crich, Derbyshire, died at Nottingham City Hospital on June 8.
An inquest has also been opened into the death of Mrs Heap, a mother-of-five and retired chem-ist from Beswick in Manchester.
Manchester’s senior coroner Nigel Meadows said his office had been informed of the deaths of Mrs Heap and retired nurse Mrs Sowah, from Firswood, Manchester, before details of the potential link to contaminated sandwiches emerged.
An inquest into Mrs Sowah’s death opened and concluded on May 20 with the primary cause of death given as sepsis and listeria.
And Mr Meadows concluded there was no need to hold an inquest into Mrs Heap’s death at the time.
However he told the hearing on June 21 that on May 29 he was informed that the deaths were linked to the England-wide listeria outbreak.
He then served a court order on PHE and the Food Standards Agency requiring them to hand over more information.
He said in a highly unusual move he would now need to ask the Attorney General’s permission to apply to quash the first inquest into Mrs Sowah’s death and hold a new one.
Speaking of the two women’s families, who did not attend the hearing, he added: ‘They have obviously suffered a very tragic, recent bereavement and are very shocked and distressed to learn about the circumstances which are now suggested to have led to the deaths of their loved ones.’
Solicitors for the hospital trust, its catering suppliers Sodexo Health Care and North Country Cooked Meats were present at the hearing.
PHE said it had contacted MRI on May 16 to inform it Mrs Heap and Mrs Sowah had been infected with the same strain of listeria, advising the hospital that sandwiches were a ‘recognised risk’.
But a spokesman said it was not until eight days later that the agency confirmed that this was how the patients had become infected and the recall was issued.
In relation to the coroner’s court order, PHE said it had supplied the information requested and was co-operating with the coroner’s investigation.
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