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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 (July 5):
A 51-year-old female patient of a medical ward in Queen Elizabeth Hospital was confirmed to be a Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) infected case on June 30. Appropriate treatment was provided and the patient is now in stable condition. In accordance with the prevailing infection control guidelines, the hospital has screened patients who had contact with the index patient. Two more female patients (aged 55 and 89) 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 (CHP) for necessary follow-up.
The QEH Infection Control Team, the departments concerned and experts of the CHP 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. A single room or cohorting in the same cubicle is arranged 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. Environmental hygiene has been stepped up; and
6. Close monitoring and stringent infection control precautions have been applied.
The QEH Infection Control Team will continue to closely monitor the situation of the ward.
Ends/Friday, July 5, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:15
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