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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 (November 24):
A 75-year-old male patient of a medical ward in QEH was confirmed to be a Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) carrier on November 17. In accordance with the prevailing infection control guidelines, the hospital screened other patients who had contact with this patient. Four more male patients (aged 64 to 84) were confirmed to be VRE carriers without clinical symptoms. Of these five patients, two are still hospitalised and another has been transferred to Kowloon Hospital. All of them are under isolation precautions. The other two patients have been discharged.
The Infection Control Team, the departments concerned and experts of the Centre for Health Protection have discussed and decided to adopt the following enhanced infection control measures:
(1) Strongly encourage patients to perform hand hygiene;
(2) Enhance hand hygiene of staff;
(3) Apply stringent contact precautions, including dedicated use of clinical items for VRE carriers; and
(4) Enhance environmental and equipment decontamination.
The QEH Infection Control Team will continue to closely monitor the situation of the ward. The cases have been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Centre for Health Protection for necessary follow-up.
Ends/Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Issued at HKT 19:16
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