Four doctors and a nurse were held responsible for the spread of neonatal sepsis at Ospital ng Makati in Makati City, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday.
The DOH said that the spread of the infection resulted in the deaths of 23 babies, while 34 cases of sepsis were recorded.
Dr. Jaime Tan, Makati City health officer, has not yet named the three suspects who will face administrative case for being negligent in keeping the hospital clean and the patients safe.
Tan said that the investigation is still ongoing.
Because of the incident, the DOH will intensify its awareness campaign to pregnant women and mothers, reminding them of the need to undergo regular check-up to monitor their health, as well as their babies'.
The DOH said it will regularly monitor hospitals to ensure that the incident at Ospital ng Maynila won't happen again. The DOH added it currently gives counselling to the mothers whose babies died from the sepsis outbreak.
Neonatal sepsis is "a serious blood bacterial infection in an infant less than 4 weeks of age," according to medicinenet.com.