Screening shows VRE superbug cases doubled in Hong Kong
Increased screening reveals rise in number of patients hit by drug-resistant bacteria, with almost 400 cases appearing in one hospital
The detection of a drug-resistant bug has surged at public hospitals this year as authorities intensify their clinical screening efforts, the latest data shows.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei was the worst hit, having detected the Vancomycin-resistant (VRE) in 300 patients - or more than 70 per cent of the cases across the city's public hospitals.
Dr Tsang Ngai-chong, the Hospital Authority's chief infection control officer, attributed the high numbers found at Queen Elizabeth to increased testing. "VRE might have evaded detection [previously when] we did not carry out controlled laboratory clinical tests," he said yesterday in releasing the authority's data.
Ho Pak-leung, University of Hong Kong microbiologist, said the figures indicated an outbreak at the hospital and could imply a failure in containing infectious diseases. "The authority should review its plan in containing the outbreak. When a hospital is looking at such a serious situation, somebody should take the responsibility," he said.
Ho sent a letter to health minister Dr Ko Wing-man, urging him to oversee the formation of a better strategy and more open access to infected patients' data.
VRE is a bacteria often associated with outbreaks in health institutions. It is resistant to multiple drugs and can be carried by healthy people, who feel the effects only when they are sick or injured. No one has been killed by the bug so far this year.
