DAILY GRAPHIC, Wednesday, February 8, 2012, Pg. 18. KorleBu begins fumigation of children's emergency ward

Story: Mary Ankrah

THE management of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) has commenced fumigation and scraping of the Children’s Emergency ward to get rid of the bacterial infection known as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) at the ward.

It has also evacuated the patients from the affected area to other wards so that they would not be infected by the bacteria and to keep the place empty for the fumigation exercise.

According to the Public Relations Officer of the KBTH, Mustapha Salifu, the two affected children were responding to treatment.

However, the hospital authorities are still waiting for the results of the sample blood tests of both patients and staff in the affected area to ensure they are free from the infection.

The Director of Medical Affairs of the hospital, Prof. Afua Hesse, said the bacterium was not very harmful to healthy people but rather to weak and sick people, who could easily be infected.

Prof. Hesse said due to some various practices within the country such as indiscriminate taking of antibiotics to treat any sickness, the MRSA bacteria had become resistance to virtually all the antibiotic drugs in the country, stressing that the MRSA, which had become resistance to every antibiotic, could rapidly take over the body and would usually lead to death.

It was for this reason that  the hospital authorities had to take all the necessary steps to prevent the spread of the bacteria and as a precaution close down the children’s  emergency ward last week.

She said each month the children’s ward recorded about 600 sick children and last month about 64 children died in the hospital out of which three children were diagnosed to have been infected with the MRSA bacteria.

 The hospital authorities advised the general public not to abuse antibiotic drugs, adding that any antibiotic drug that was abused would automatically resist any other antibiotic.

They also recommended that Ghanaians should observe general hygiene by frequently washing their hands with soap and water and keeping their environment tidy to avoid any bacterial infection.