The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is stepping up efforts to maintain a cleaner building so as to better manage infectious diseases at the island’s main medical institution.
This comes after three premature babies, each no more than two weeks old, were found to be infected with a drug resistant strain of bacteria over the Easter weekend. The emergence of this strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae came after other strains had been detected over the last 18 months.
Having formed an infection control team headed by Dr Corey Forde, QEH director Dr Dexter James said yesterday that the hospital was acting based on recent findings and recommendations by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). No information was given on the condition of the babies.
James said, via a Press release, that PAHO’s report on the QEH had stressed “the importance of hand hygiene practices, cohorting, contact precautions, safety practices and increased knowledge to facilitate behaviour change in both staff and the public”.
As a result, he said over 300 staff members had undergone hand hygiene training and sensitization, with training sessions slated for the next two weeks, while patients entering and exiting the QEH would be screened by critical care units. (PR/RJ)
