Link: CTV.ca | Quebec health officials confront new ’superbug’.
Quebec’s health minister denies that a virulent, drug-resistant ’superbug’ is spreading out of control in hospitals throughout his province.
However, at least 5,000 people were infected with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MSRA) in 2004, Health Minister Philippe Couillard told reporters on Monday.
"Since January of 2003 levels of infection have stayed stable," he said. "We must note that the same efforts we are making for C. difficile will also bear fruit for this bacteria."
Couillard credited that effort with stemming the impact of the highly infectious bacterium.
Dr. Charles Frenette, a Montreal infectious diseases specialist, agreed those measures had an impact.
However, "it’s still a lot and there’s still a lot of infection control measures we can do to limit its spread," he said.
