Outbreak Of C.difficile, MRSA, Other Bacteria At Peterborough Hospital
Posted November 13, 2010 10:37 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A hospital in Peterborough has stopped admitting patients to one of its units after an outbreak of three different bacteria.
Peterborough Regional Health Centre is investigating several cases of C.difficile, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (VRE).
There have been 11 cases of MRSA since Nov. 5. The first of seven C.difficile cases dates back to Oct. 22. There are two cases of VRE.
In a statement, the hospital says specially-trained housekeeping staff are cleaning patient rooms.
“We are taking this infection control situation very seriously,” wrote Ken Tremblay, the hospital’s President & CEO. “We have consulted with external infectious disease experts to ensure we are following best practice.”
Patients will undergo various tests Monday.
Until then, no patients will be admitted to or transferred from the B-3 Unit.
The number of visitors to the unit is also being restricted to two family members per patient.
C.difficile is a common infection found in hospitals and long-term care centres. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever, nausea and abdominal pain.
If left untreated, MRSA skin infections can cause life-threatening complications like blood, bone or lunch infections.
Symptoms of drug-resistant bacteria VRE infections include fever, wound infections, inflammation, and pneumonia.
The hospital said no new cases of C.difficile were found in the last 10 days.
The last new case of MRSA was found Nov. 8, and will conduct a third screening on Monday.
