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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) announced today (November 8) that targeted screening for Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) carriers in all public hospitals will commence next Wednesday (November 13) to control the spread of VRE among public hospitals and help formulate future infection control strategy.
The Chief Infection Control Officer of the HA, Dr Dominic Tsang, said that an earlier pan-screening programme at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) had successfully identified all occult VRE carriers for isolation to mitigate the risk of cross-transmission within the hospital.
"Targeted screening in all public hospitals following the QEH pan-screening programme will further minimise the risk of inter-hospital spread of VRE," Dr Tsang added.
The screening programme targets inpatients with admission history in the past three months as well as renal patients on haemodialysis. At the same time, paediatric and obstetric patients, short-stay patients at the Emergency Medicine Wards of Accident and Emergency Departments, and ambulatory and day surgery patients will be excluded.
In the 10 weeks following next Wednesday, hospitals will collect rectal swabs from patients and test specimens for VRE. In accordance with prevailing infection control guidelines, VRE carriers identified will be isolated alongside stringent contact precautions, enhanced hand hygiene and dedicated use of clinical items.
"The hospitals will also enhance environmental cleaning and disinfection with a view to controlling the bacterial spread before the winter surge when bed occupancy will likely stay at a high level," Dr Tsang remarked.
During the targeted screening period, the HA will activate the Major Incident Control Centre to closely monitor the progress of the screening and the normal operation of hospital services.
The HA appeals for public understanding on the significance of the targeted screening exercise and apologises for the possible inconvenience caused. The HA also thanks all front-line staff for their extra effort in the preparation for smooth running of the screening exercise and the enhanced infection control measures.
Ends/Friday, November 8, 2013
Issued at HKT 14:56
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