A potentially fatal superbug infected 700 to 800 patients in public hospitals a month this year, a record high, the Centre for Health Protection said.
Of these, an estimated 100 to 200 patients could have died from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (or golden staph) infections, based on initial figures. This figure is not definitive because data is not being collected on fatalities from golden staph. The bacterium is commonly found on the skin and in the noses of healthy people. In the worst cases, it can lead to pneumonia or septicaemia, an infection in the blood known as blood poisoning.
A pilot surveillance programme launched in April that now involved 27 public hospitals confirmed 700 to 800 hospital-acquired cases a month, said Raymond Yung Wai-hung, the centre's head of infection control.
'Although it has become endemic, we have not lost our grip on that,' Dr Yung said.
The Hospital Authority and the Department of Health would launch a hand-hygiene campaign among doctors, nurses and other health care personnel on January 21, he said.
The city might see a record high of at least 8,000 hospital-acquired cases this year. The centre estimated 5,470 cases occurred last year.
Community-acquired cases also reached a record high this year, at 155 by the end of last month, Dr Yung said. This compared with one case in 2004, seven in 2005 and 30 last year. A final report was due in the middle of next year involving all 44 public hospitals, he said.