Authorities in northern Italy have launched a criminal investigation after two premature babies died within hours of each other at San Maurizio Hospital in Bolzano.
The infants, born just three weeks ago, were extremely fragile—delivered at 23 and 27 weeks of pregnancy, each weighing barely 700 grams. Doctors say the children succumbed to an infection caused by Serratia marcescens, a common microbe usually harmless but potentially lethal for patients with compromised immune systems.
At a press briefing on Thursday, Josef Widmann, medical director of the South Tyrolean Health Authority, confirmed that the infection was traced back to industrial dishwashing soap used within the hospital. Supplies of the product have now been recalled across the health system.
“This germ exists all around us—in soil, in water, in plants, animals, even people,” Widmann explained. “For most, it poses no danger. But for babies born so prematurely, the risk is devastating.”
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The shock has prompted the hospital to suspend admissions of high-risk premature babies while a full review takes place. Ten other newborns who had been in the same ward have been moved to separate facilities to limit any chance of exposure.
Monika Zaebisch, the hospital’s medical director, said staff had followed strict hygiene protocols but were unable to shield the two infants. “From the evening of 12 August, we decided not to admit further high-risk births,” she said. “We’ve also arranged for Trento hospital to receive premature babies during this period so that no child is put at risk.”
Hospital director Pierpaolo Bertoli noted that the babies developed sepsis shortly after symptoms appeared. “The presence of this bacterium is not unique to Bolzano,” he said. “Neonatal intensive care units everywhere live with this constant threat—not because the germ is unusual, but because of the vulnerability of the infants we are caring for.”
The Carabinieri’s specialist health unit, NAS, is now examining the case. Prosecutors will decide whether to order autopsies and assess possible charges of malpractice or manslaughter.
The incident has touched a raw nerve in Italy, coming only weeks after three people died in the south from suspected botulism poisoning. For Bolzano, a city more used to alpine tourism than tragedy in its hospitals, the deaths have stirred an unsettling question about how something so routine as cleaning supplies could tip the balance for lives already hanging by a thread.