Limerick hospital treats patients of deadly virus

SEVEN patients who have contracted a hospital acquired infection US statistics say kills 40% of people it infects are continuing to be treated at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick.

A HSE spokesperson confirmed the individuals are suffering from the highly dangerous and drug-resistant infection Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC).

The Limerick situation is the first time the infection — which is far more dangerous than MRSA as it is based in the bowels not on the skin — has been confirmed in Ireland.

Of the seven cases at the hospital, only one person has become ill as a result.

The other six have been colonised by the infection.

A patient in another long-stay facility in the mid-western region has also shown signs of the illness, which include vomiting and diarrhoea.

The outbreak — which was identified last week and has led to medics raising genuine concern about the risk to ill patients — has resulted in significant visitor restrictions at the major Limerick hospital.

Only people who are visiting critically ill patients are allowed to come to the hospital, and even then only between 2pm-4pm and 6.30pm-8.30pm.

Elderly patients, children, pregnant women, people with chronic illnesses and anyone else in a vulnerable situation are asked not to turn up at the hospital.

Attendance at the facility’s emergency department — which yesterday had 19 people on trolleys — is also banned unless absolutely necessary.

A HSE spokesperson said out-patient, day care and routine admissions are not affected by the situation.

While the KPC infection has until now never been identified in Ireland, US statistics highlight the dangers it poses.

According to a recent study by medical epidemiologist Dr Arjun Srinivasan of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, KPC can kill 40% of people who become infected.

The organisation is a sub-group of the US Department of Health and Human Services and is focused on disease prevention and control.

KPC is an enzyme produced by variants of the common bacterium, Klebsiella pneumoniae, which live on the skin and in the mouth and guts of people. These can cause pneumonia and urinary tract infections.

The infection spreads by person-to-person contact, but can be prevented by intensive environmental cleaning in affected hospital wards. An intensive deep cleaning where transmissions may have occurred is currently being carried out by HSE workers.

Hospital staff are urging the public to co-operate with the advice and instructions they have provided.