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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 23):
A 76-year-old male patient of a medical ward in Queen Elizabeth Hospital was confirmed to be a Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) carrier on July 17. The patient subsequently passed away due to underlying illness. In accordance with the prevailing infection control guidelines, the hospital has screened patients who had contact with the index patient. A total of two more male patients (aged 83 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 have 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. 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/Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:29
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