SWAN Hill District Health is well placed to manage potential cases of a highly resistant superbug that’s spreading through the state, its infection control nurse says.
Victorian hospitals have this week been put on high alert after the superbug known as KPC was detected in more than a dozen patients.
The Department of Health and Human Services has informed the hospitals that the superbug — which is estimated to kill around half the people it infects — has been detected in 57 Victorian patients since 2012, with a sharp rise occurring over the last year.
It said that although 18 of those 57 patients had died, it was unclear whether the infection was the cause of their deaths.
SHDH infection control nurse Judy Deveraux said the superbug was yet to present itself at the hospital, and was unlikely to do so as the hospital rarely dealt with patient transfers from overseas — which is a major risk factor.
Ms Deveraux said the hospital has had guidelines for how to control the organism since 2013, but the Department of Health and Human Services’ new update recommended improved strategies which it was putting in place.
One of those strategies was to implement an updated screening process for patients deemed to be high-risk.
For more on this story, grab a copy of Friday’s Guardian (June 19).
