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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The spokesperson for Kowloon Central Cluster made the following update today (September 2) regarding earlier announcements on two clusters of Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) carriers:
Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) earlier announced the confirmation of clusters of patients as carriers of VRE in medical wards. In accordance with the prevailing infection control guidelines, contact tracing has been performed. Four more patients (three male and a female, aged 80 to 85) are confirmed positive of VRE today. They are VRE carriers without clinical symptoms. The concerned patients are still hospitalised and now under medical surveillance and isolation with stable condition.
Moreover, a 93 year-old male patient of a medical ward in Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital was confirmed to be a VRE carrier on August 28. In accordance with the prevailing infection control guidelines, the hospital has screened patients who had contact with the index patient. A total of 11 patients (five male and six female, age 69 to 101) who had stayed in the same ward were confirmed to be VRE carriers without clinical symptoms today. A female patient was dead because of her own illness. The other patients are still hospitalised under medical surveillance and isolation with stable condition.
The Cluster 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. Strongly encourage patients perform hand hygiene;
2. Enhanced hand hygiene of staff;
3. Applied stringent contact precautions, including dedicated use of clinical items to VRE carriers;
4. Enhanced environmental and equipment decontamination; and
5. Active surveillance culture for high risk patients.
The Cluster 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/Monday, September 2, 2013
Issued at HKT 21:31
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