The hospital's intensive care unit is accepting admissions again

The unit at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill had recorded a rise in the number of children with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Eight cases had been found in eight weeks. Five children remain in the intensive care unit.

The local health board said four admissions had to be turned away.

Families of the children, who were due to come into hospital for surgery, have been contacted.

A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: "Due to the difference in strains, the hospital's infection control team is treating the current situation as a cluster of cases.

"As a precaution they are taking comprehensive measures to ensure patient safety.

Appropriate treatment

"These measures include disinfecting taps, work surfaces, trolleys and other equipment."

Two of the children in intensive care are expected to leave within the next 24 hours.

Dr Bob Masterton, consultant microbiologist, stressed that no other part of the hospital had been affected and the other three patients were currently stable and receiving appropriate treatment.

The health board said a decision was taken on Friday to stop the admission of new cases to the unit.

A contingency plan to take cases to Edinburgh was put in place.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a relatively common organism found naturally in water, soil, plants and on humans.

It is an organism that tends to cause disease only in susceptible people whose immune system is suppressed and is generally not a risk to healthy people. Normally it can be successfully treated with antibiotics.