Two premature babies weighing less than two pounds died last week after contracting infections officials believe came from contaminated dish soap at the Italian hospital where they were being treated.

The two infants, born at 23 weeks and 27 weeks of gestation, respectively, were diagnosed with an infection spurred by Serratia marcescens, a common germ that can prove fatal to those with precarious health conditions. 4

Both babies died between Aug. 12 and Aug. 13 after developing sepsis from the infection at the San Maurizio Hospital in Bolzano, just 150 miles south of the Italy-Austria border. They weighed about a pound and a half each.

The germ was linked to the industrial dishwashing soap used at the hospital, which was all swiftly recalled, Josef Widmann, the medical director of

See Full Page