Bug at RAH infects more
The Advertiser (
Byline: RUSSELL EMMERSON, STATE POLITICAL REPORTER
Edition: 1 State
Section: News
THREE more cases of an antibiotic-resistant
superbug have been identified at the
South Australian chief medical officer Paddy Phillips said the
number of infections was being revised constantly as tests were returned, but
the hospital was looking at ways to control the outbreak.
"Patients who don't need to be admitted to the RAH (cancer
ward) are not being admitted at the moment, it's being monitored on a daily
basis and we're checking all the patients," he said.
He said the outbreak had been tracked back to two admissions a
week ago, although their illnesses were not disclosed.
"There were two patients who came into hospital with
diarrhoea and because the tests take several days, those people were in a
multi-bed bay, and unfortunately other people became colonised (with the
bug)," Professor Phillips said.
He could not confirm whether another ward had gone into lockdown
to isolate the additional cases. Health Minister John Hill said he had been
advised that this strain of bacteria, vancomycin-resistant enterococcus, was
relatively common and was likely to exist in all SA hospitals. "I'm not
aware of any particular incidents at the moment but I would be very surprised
if they weren't in any other hospitals," he said.
Mr Hill said the incident was further evidence supporting the
move to single-bed wards - as envisaged in the proposed $1.7 billion
"We have had this hospital for over 150 years and the only
alternative is to keep it and fiddle around the issues or make a clean break
and build a new hospital and that's what were going to do," he said.
But Save the RAH chairman Jim Katsaros said Mr Hill's argument
was false.
"We only have 10 or 12 patients who are affected. It is
bacteria in patients, and not in bricks," he said.
"A new hospital with 60 inpatients beds will not prevent on
day one, 10 people with this bug walking through those doors and we will be
back to square one."
