Posted at 9:04 a.m. PST Tuesday, January 20, 1998
Fourth patient at B.C. hospital has superbug
ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia (AP) -- A fourth patient at
Matsqui-Sumas-Abbotsford Hospital has been confirmed to be infected with
a superbug -- a potentially life-threatening bacterium that can't be
treated.
Two others are now suspected of having picked up the bacterium.
One of those is a woman who was transferred to the surgical floor from
the medical floor where she may originally have been infected.
When suspicions arose about her condition, the hospital closed 44
surgical beds Monday. The 202-bed hospital has now limited surgeries to
emergencies only.
The bacterium is not considered a danger to healthy people but can cause
problems for people with weakened immune systems, such as AIDS and
cancer patients, hospital official Bob Breen said Monday.
The bacterium, vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE), can also get into
the bloodstream if someone has an open wound, he said.
The hospital was closed Thursday after a Fraser Valley man who had been
in hospital in Palm Springs, Calif., was confirmed as a carrier.
Although the man was suspected of having VRE, he was put in a double
room and staff practiced infection control procedures such as wearing
gloves and hospital gowns - when dealing with him.
The man's roommate and a woman who was on the same medical floor
subsequently became infected.
With Monday's confirmation of another infected patient, the total
confirmed infected rose to four. None of the four are showing any
symptoms, such as diarrhea and vomiting.
Breen said the woman who is suspected of having VRE had been on the same
floor as the Palm Springs patient.
She was then transferred to the surgical unit where she underwent
surgery and then moved to the intensive care unit. The intensive care
unit, which was on the same floor as the Palm Springs patient, is now
being temporarily relocated.
``We're testing the 25 people who were on the surgical floor today and
the test results should be known by Wednesday,'' Breen said.
The spread of VRE within the hospital is being blamed on the fact there
were only six isolation rooms available in the hospital and when the
Palm Springs patient was first admitted none were available.
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