Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Operation theatre at MCH to reopen on Thursday

Thiruvananthapuram: The emergency theatre at the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, which was closed on Friday after the presence of MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a potentially lethal bacterium, was detected during a routine microbiological investigation, is expected to be reopened on Thursday.

The MCH authorities said currently fumigation and other necessary infection control measures were on, after which the microbiological department would take fresh swabs on Monday. They expected to reopen the theatre in another two days, after getting a clearance certificate from the laboratory.

MRSA can be potentially dangerous because the multiple antibiotic-resistant bacteria can spread rapidly in humans and is difficult to treat because it is resistant to even the strongest antibiotic, methicillin. The bacteria, which are present on the skin, spread through human contact and can infect wound sites.

Hospital infection due to MRSA has been a major problem in the UK in recent times, where an estimated one lakh people got infected last year, out of whom, 5,000 died, a recent BBC report said.

Infection control and surveillance committees had been set up for each of the three operation theatres at MCH after the hospital infection episode at SAT hospital last May, which had led to the death of many neonates in the newborn nursery there.

Infection control measures are carried out routinely and swabs taken from the theatres every three months for testing. Hospital authorities said the current infection was not unusual in a hospital of MCH’s magnitude and the theatre was closed in order to contain the infection quickly, on the recommendation of the infection control committee.

The two tables in the emergency theatre have now been allocated in the elective surgery theatres. Minor elective surgeries may be delayed by a week or so due to the new arrangement but other than that there have been no major re-scheduling of surgeries, MCH sources said.

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