The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
UL Hospitals Group has this week commenced writing to patients in the community to advise them that they shared a ward or clinical area before their discharge with a patient who subsequently had a positive result for CPE, which is an antibiotic resistant organism. Antibiotic resistant organisms are often called superbugs. The word superbug is used to mean bacteria that are hard to kill with antibiotics. CPE is a relatively recent global health problem. A number of different kinds of CPE have been introduced into Ireland and have spread in the healthcare system in recent years. As such, these patients are designated CPE Contacts. A patient who is a CPE contact is so defined because they have shared a ward or clinical area with someone who has been found to be carrying CPE. There is about a one in 20 chance that someone who is designated a contact will become a carrier of CPE. There is about a one in …
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