Preventing the spread of hospital bacteria
You may be carrying bacteria unnoticed and we may need to take precautions. Therefore, please read the questions below before each hospital visit. Contact the outpatient clinic if you can answer YES to one or more of the following questions.
Answer questions for visit uitklapper, klik om te openen
- Have you been diagnosed with a hospital bacteria (such as MRSA, VRE, Acinetobacter, MRGNS or ESBL)?
- During the past two months, have you been admitted to another Dutch hospital and was there an outbreak of hospital bacteria in that department?
- Have you been to a foreign hospital or healthcare facility for admission, examination or treatment in the last two months?
- Do you live or work on a farm with pigs, veal calves or meat poultry?
- Do you live with or care for someone in whom MRSA bacteria have been detected?
- Have you lived in a shelter or institution for asylum seekers in the past two months?
More on hospital bacteria uitklapper, klik om te openen
What is a hospital bug?
A hospital bacterium is a bacterium that is difficult to control with antibiotics. Healthy people can carry a bacterium without being affected by it. But for people with reduced resistance, such as those in a hospital, infection with such bacteria can be dangerous. The best-known hospital bacteria is called "MRSA". This is the abbreviation for: Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. But there are more bacteria that are insensitive to antibiotics. We don't want these bacteria to spread in the hospital either.
How does infection with hospital bacteria occur?
Infection with a hospital bacteria usually happens through direct skin contact, often through the hands. Sometimes it can get into the air through dander or sneezing, causing infection.
Where does infection with a hospital bacteria occur?
Infection can occur anywhere, but there are places where there is more risk of infection. Many foreign hospitals suffer from hospital acquired bacteria. There is evidence that these bacteria also occur in various types of animals and are transmitted from animals to humans. Especially in pigs, calves and meat poultry (such as broilers), this can occur.