Two babies at the Special Care Baby Unit at St Luke’s Hospital for Carlow & Kilkenny have been diagnosed with MRSA while a third, adult patient tested positive for another superbug CPE.
The CPE adult case resulted in the short term closure of beds in the day ward yesterday.
Full infection prevention & control precautions were put in place in line with the National Guidelines & full decontamination of the ward took place last night with the beds reopened for emergency admissions today.
A statement to KCLR News also outlines that in the case of the babies – both were promptly identified, appropriate action was taken and the unit is open for new admissions.
FULL STATEMENT: Ireland East Hospital Group CPE and MRSA notification at St Luke’s General Hospital, Kilkenny
A patient (1), with Carpbepenemase Producing Enterobacterales (CPE) was identified in St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny which resulted in the short term closure of beds in the day ward yesterday. Full infection prevention and control precautions were put in place, in line with the National Guidelines, and full decontamination of the day ward took place last night. The beds were reopened for emergency admissions today.
St Luke’s General Hospital Carlow/Kilkenny has fully implemented the National HCAI AMR Taskforce recommendations for screening to detect patients with CPE. This patient was identified due to implementation of the screening programme. The infection prevention and control team continue to work with staff to ensure best practice is followed in line with Hospital Infection Control Policy and national best practice guidelines for management of CPE
Two patients with MRSA were recently identified in the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU). The patients were promptly identified, and appropriate action taken. The unit is open for new admissions.
The Infection Prevention and Control Team has an ongoing surveillance programme for identifying patients colonised or infected with resistant micro-organisms. The surveillance programme was successful in identifying the patients, above, allowing for prompt action by the infection control team and ward staff in line with Hospital Infection Control Policy and national and international best practice guidelines in this area. Incidents and trends in infections are monitored and discussed on a monthly basis at the Hospital’s Quality and Patient Safety Committee and at IEHG Group level
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