Today mum-of-two Nicola Salkeld told The Star she could be forced to postpone a planned operation next week if tests show she has the MRSA bug on her skin after coming into close contact with her husband's poorly grandfather in hospital.
Nicola, aged 34, has waited six months for the op at the Jessop Wing next Thursday. She says she would never have visited John Salkeld, 83, if staff at the Northern General had told her he had contracted the bug. MRSA can cause serious infections or even kill if it enters the body through wounds or tubes after surgery or serious illness.
When Nicola visited John with her husband Darren, 39, she kissed and hugged him - unaware that she risked being exposed to the bug.
MRSA infection: John Salkeld, 83
The couple, from Norton, say they asked medical staff for an update on John's progress but were not informed that he had MRSA on his skin.
John, from Arbourthorne, has been in hospital for about four months. Hospital chiefs told The Star he was recently found to have the bug on his skin - but stressed he is not infected.
MRSA doesn't normally affect healthy people. But surgery has to be postponed if a patient has the bacteria on their skin, as there is a risk of it entering the blood stream and causing potentially serious problems.
Nicola, a project secretary at Sheffield University, said: "If I'd known about the MRSA I wouldn't have visited him.
"Knowing that I was going to have an operation I wouldn't have taken the risk."
Nicola is now facing an anxious wait for test results which she expects to get tomorrow.
If the tests show she has MRSA on her skin she must be tested a further three times to show that she is clear of infection before her operation, for the gynaecological condition endometriosis, can go ahead. Nicola said: "It is hard not knowing what's going to happen as you build yourself up for an operation. It is such a big thing and it is a worrying time."
A spokeswoman for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the Northern General Hospital said it is unlikely Nicola has MRSA on her skin - which is described as "colonisation".
She added: "The patient's relative has been screened prior to her own hospital admission to ensure she does not have skin colonisation. It is very unlikely that the patient will be affected but if treatment is required then, in the interests of the patient's health and well-being, her operation would be re-scheduled until further tests showed that the treatment had been successful.
"Strict precautions are in place to reduce further risk to the patient and to stop the spread of MRSA to other patients on the ward."
Darren said: "My wife's a bit disillusioned by what's happened, but I'm angry about it. It is frustrating this has happened."
