Link: Peterborough Examiner – Ontario, CA.
There have been no new cases of the bacteria methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at Peterborough Regional Health Centre since an outbreak was discovered last month.
Cheryl Johnson, infection control practitioner for the hospital, said patients are no longer being moved off the floor.
"It’s a positive thing to see that no more cases were yielded with the last test," Johnson said. "So it certainly gives us reason to believe our control measures are doing their job."
The last prevalence screen test — when patients are swabbed for MRSA — was done on Tuesday and confirmed there are no new cases.
PRHC confirmed the outbreak of eight MRSA cases on July 30.
The outbreak was confined to one unit, which stopped accepting new patients, Johnson said.
The hospital would not tell the public which unit was infected.
"We swab every patient that is on that floor," Johnson said. "We really go looking for it because the key to stopping transmission is knowing where it is so we can put the appropriate precautions in place."
Johnson said 15 patients in the unit were swabbed.
"We don’t swab the patients who are already positive," she said.
In the unit, six patients from the original eight are still infected.
