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Cluster of Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci cases in Queen Elizabeth Hospital
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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The spokesperson for Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) made the following announcement today (May 28):

     A 33-year-old male patient of a medical ward in Queen Elizabeth Hospital was confirmed to be a Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) carrier on May 22. The hospital has screened patients who had contact with the index patient in the same period. A total of 16 more male patients (aged 37 to 87) who had stayed in the same ward were confirmed to be VRE carriers without clinical symptoms.

     The cases have been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Centre for Health Protection for necessary follow-up.

     The QEH Infection Control Team, the departments concerned and experts of the Centre for Health Protection had met and decided to adopt the following enhanced infection control measures:

1. Enhanced admission screening for high-risk patients, such as renal patients and Intensive Care Unit cases;
2. Arranging for single rooms or cohorting in the same cubicle for high-risk cases;
3. Enforcing hand hygiene and recruiting volunteers to take part in hand hygiene audits;
4. Focusing more closely on contamination-prone procedures;
5. Stepping up environmental hygiene; and
6. Applying close monitoring and stringent infection control precautions.

     The QEH Infection Control Team will continue to closely monitor the situation of the ward.

Ends/Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:43

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