TWENTY-SEVEN more patients at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) have been detected with the superbug vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE).
This brings the total number of patients infected by the antibiotic-resistant bacterium to 42. They include the 15 who were earlier diagnosed on April 1.
The additional cases were discovered through a mass screening of another 933 ward patients who could have come into contact with the bug. Patients who were previously admitted to other hospitals, both locally and overseas, and who are now required to be warded at SGH will also be screened.
A statement from Dr Asok Kurup, a consultant with the department of internal medicine at SGH, said the hospital is still actively screening all existing patients.
'Based on the epidemic curve for VRE cases, the number of VRE patients is expected to increase initially,' Dr Kurup added.
Currently only one patient has been found to be infected. The rest are carriers and have been isolated from other patients.
To ensure that the VRE stays confined within SGH at the moment, the hospital has adopted a Sars-like contingency plan.
Its spokesman said lists of patients and their caregivers, relatives and anyone else who has come into contact with them have been distributed to other hospitals and clinics in Singapore.
If these patients seek care at these facilities, precautions and proper tests can be carried out.
The list includes those who were earlier diagnosed with VRE and have been discharged since, but the spokesman could not give the exact number.
VRE carriers have no detectable signs and symptoms but infected patients may suffer infections of the urinary tract, bloodstream, surgical sites and heart valves.
VRE is transmitted through contact, usually by touching infected areas or items contaminated by the germ and then introducing it into the mouth.
According to medical experts, the superbug cannot function efficiently outside a hospital environment. Although cleanliness and hygiene need to be observed, there is no need to be alarmed.
But to prevent a further outbreak, SGH has formed an executive task force to look at intervention and prevent the spread of VRE among its patients, and ensure that VRE is not entrenched in the hospital.
Other measures the hospital is currently carrying out to help prevent the spread of VRE are: Rapid laboratory identification of the bacterium through stool samples, environmental screening and increased cleaning, restricting the use of antibiotics in the hospital and postponement of elective surgery.
As of yesterday, 600 non-urgent operations at SGH have been postponed.
These include hip and knee replacement surgery, removal of implants, hernia operation, removal of gall bladder or selected cosmetic surgery.
These were originally scheduled over the next two weeks.