Hospital increases tests for superbug
Queen Elizabeth Hospital has recorded highest number of VRE infections in the city and all its inpatients will be tested for the bacteria
All inpatients at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei will undergo tests for a deadly drug-resistant superbug from the end of the month after the hospital detected an unusually high number of infections.
The hospital had the most number of cases of the vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) bacteria in the city, the Hospital Authority said.
It accounted for about half of the 703 new infections found in central Kowloon hospitals this year, the authority's chief infection control officer Dr Dominic Tsang Ngai-chong said, without giving a precise figure.
Tsang attributed the spike to increased testing and the inadequacy of some facilities, such as isolation rooms at the old hospital, which celebrated its 50th anniversary yesterday.
"VRE cases are often related to three causes - patient segregation, hand cleanliness and environmental hygiene," he said.
Queen Elizabeth also had more patients who suffered from severe illnesses and that could play a part, he noted. Doctors usually refrained from isolating such patients even if they carried the virus because moving them could exacerbate their condition. "Clinical care carries a higher priority," Tsang said.
VRE is a bacteria that is resistant to vancomycin, a strong antibiotic. The bug can exist in the body without causing infection, but can kill if it infects the brain or enters an open wound.