Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-02T23:42:22.956Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

First Outbreak of Colonization and Infection With Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Singapore

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Maciej Piotr Chlebicki ,
Moi Lin Ling ,
Tse Hsien Koh ,
Li Yang Hsu ,
Ban Hock Tan ,
Kue Bien How ,
Li-Hwei Sng ,
Grace Chee Yeng Wang ,
Asok Kurup  and
Mei Ling Kang
...Show all authors
Maciej Piotr Chlebicki*
Affiliation:
Departments of Internal Medicine, Infection Control Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
Moi Lin Ling
Affiliation:
Pathology, Infection Control Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
Tse Hsien Koh
Affiliation:
Pathology, Infection Control Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
Li Yang Hsu
Affiliation:
Departments of Internal Medicine, Infection Control Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
Ban Hock Tan
Affiliation:
Departments of Internal Medicine, Infection Control Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
Kue Bien How
Affiliation:
Infection Control Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
Li-Hwei Sng
Affiliation:
Pathology, Infection Control Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
Grace Chee Yeng Wang
Affiliation:
Pathology, Infection Control Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
Asok Kurup
Affiliation:
Departments of Internal Medicine, Infection Control Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
Mei Ling Kang
Affiliation:
Departments of Internal Medicine, Infection Control Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
Jenny Guek Hong Low
Affiliation:
Pathology, Infection Control Unit, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
*
Department of Internal Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Outram Road, Singapore169608, ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We report the first outbreak of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium colonization and infection among inpatients in the hematology ward of an acute tertiary care public hospital in Singapore. Two cases of bacteremia and 4 cases of gastrointestinal carriage were uncovered before implementation of strict infection control measures resulted in control of the outbreak.

Type
Concise Communications
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 27 , Issue 9 , September 2006 , pp. 991 - 993
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Nilgate, S, Nunthapisud, P, Chongthaleong, A. Vancomycin-resistant enterococci in King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital: a 5-year study. J Med Assoc Thai 2003; 86:S224–S229.Google Scholar
2.Oon, LEL, Ling, ML, Chiew, YF. Gastrointestinal colonization of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus in a Singapore teaching hospital. Pathology 2001; 33:216–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Garner, JS, Jarvis, WR, Emori, TG, Horan, TC, Hughes, JM. CDC definitions for nosocomial infections, 1988. Am J Infect Control 1988; 16:128–140.Google Scholar
4.Bell, TM, Paton, JC, Turnidge, J. Emergence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in Australia: phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of isolates. J Clin Microbiol 1998; 36:2187–2190.Google Scholar
5.Free, L, Sahm, DF. Detection of enterococcal vancomycin resistance by multiplex PCR. In: Persing, D, ed. PCR Protocols for Emerging Infectious Diseases. Washington, DC: American Society for Microbiology; 1996:150–156.Google Scholar
6.Carmeli, Y, Eliopoulos, G, Mozaffari, E, Samore, M. Health and economic outcomes of vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Arch Intern Med 2002; 162:2223–2228.Google Scholar
7.Ang, SW, Seah, CS, Lee, ST. Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus in the Singapore National Burns Centre: a case report. Ann Acad Med Singapore 1996; 25:270–272.Google Scholar
8.Chiew, YF, Ling, ML. Two cases of vancomycin-resistant enterococci from Singapore. J Infect 1998; 36:133–134.Google Scholar
9.Thal, LA, Silverman, J, Donabedian, S, Zervos, MJ. The effect of Tn916 insertions on contour-clamped homogeneous electrophoresis patterns of Enterococcus faecalis. J Clin Microbiol 1997; 35:969–972.Google Scholar
10.Chow, KY, Lee, CE, Ling, ML, Heng, DM, Yap, SG. Outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in a tertiary hospital in Singapore, linked to an index patient with atypical presentation: epidemiological study. BMJ 2004; 328:195.Google Scholar