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Fears of Klebsiella Outbreak at Durban's King Edward VIII Hospital Allayed
KZN Heath Department
2006-03-13

The KwaZulu Natal Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Health Ms Peggy Neliswa Nkonyeni today issued a statement allaying fears of Klebsiella outbreak at Durbans King Edward VIII Hospital. Earlier reports of Klebsiella outbreak reported on various media houses were a complete exaggeration and misinformation she said.

On the 10th March 2006, King Edward VIII Hospital management received notification of Klebsiella Infection of 4 adult patients and instituted urgent immediate interim measures to control the infection and not the outbreak. These measures included temporary closure of the ICU and intensive infection control measures such as barrier nursing. According to Dr. Gopalan in charge of ICU all four affected patients were isolated and are still critically ill from their original ailments which brought them to the Hospital. To date two of them have already completed Klebsiella treatment and the rest will complete soon reported Dr. Gopalan.

Professor Willem Sturm of the Mandela School of Medicine confirmed that there was no Klebsiella outbreak at the hospital. Professor Sturm concisentised the public of the fact that every human being has Klebsiella but it only becomes deadly if one is sick and immune system is down. In this regard there is no need to panic because what has affected the four patients lives with all human beings he emphasized. Prof Sturm added that the four patients had different Klebsiella which rules out the possibility of an outbreak.

The Hospital ICU will remain closed until the four patients are completely healed from Klebsiella in order to effect and contain intensive infection control measures.

The MEC advised the KZN public not to panic as there is no need to be concerned about the services offered at King Edward VIII Hospital. We will ensure that the Hospital functions well and all services are up to standard. She reiterated.

Source: http://www.kznhealth.gov.za/mediarelease/keklebsiella.pdf

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