‘Emergency state’ lifted in Pampanga hospital

GUAGUA, Pampanga– The chief of the Diosdado Macapagal Memorial Hospital here lifted Thursday morning the “state of emergency” he declared in the government district hospital following the discovery of a dangerous bacteria in a patient last Sept. 15.

Dr. Eddie Ponio said the hospital started to take in patients anew at 7 a.m. Thursday after a seven-day disinfection of all parts of the hospital.

“It was a simple, mandatory emergency measure, and not a calamity that we had,” he said, citing reports of panic among some residents.

Ponio ordered the hospital virtually shut down last Sept. 15 after a patient, who suffered from burn injuries from electrocution, was found to have the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa in his wounds.

“The patient was treated in both the emergency and operating rooms which are critical parts of the hospital, so we decided to shut down the hospital until we have fully decontaminated it,” he said.

Ponio described the bacteria as “an opportunistic pathogen which exploits some break in the host defenses to initiate an infection.”

According to Joel Mapiles head of Pampanga press information office, the closure of the hospital by medical officials was standard procedure.

Ponio disclosed that the bacteria may take advantage of the weak immune system of a sick person and usually enters the body through open wounds.

The presence of the bacteria leads to the weakening of the body when the carrier enters it through direct contact or through blood transfusion.

Mapiles said that several patients admitted in the hospital were transferred to nearby hospitals to prevent the spread of the bacteria.

The Department of Health in the region, meanwhile, advised other hospitals to be more vigilant because pseudonomas is hard to detect.

“Mayroon tayong tinatawag na infection control committee. Kung may ma-detect man silang problema ng pseudomonas, e mai-a-address nila kaagad,” said Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, program manager of Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases of the DOH.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (bacteria) can infect almost any tissue in the body that is compromised (i.e. damaged or weakened by injury or disease).

It can infect the urinary tract, respiratory tract, skin, soft tissue, heart valves, ears, bones, joints and gastrointestinal tract. Many Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections are acquired while in the hospital.

There are six symptoms of pseudomonas bacteria:
1) Respiratory infection including chronic productive cough, loss of appetite, weight loss, wheezing, rapid breathing, fever, chills, difficulty breathing, bluish color to the skin, and confusion.
2) Heart valve infection, including fever, murmur, fatigue, fluid in the lungs, water retention, dizziness, weakness, rapid heart beat, and irregular heart beat.
3) High fever, stiff neck, stiff back, severe headache, and confusion.
4) Ear infection symptom including pain, itching, ear discharge, swelling, fever, tenderness of the ear and nerve palsy in the face. Symptoms of eye infection include pain, redness, swelling and impaired vision. Symptoms of skin infection include green nails, fruity odor, blue green pus, itching and lesions.
5) Bone and joint infection symptoms include neck pain, back pain, swelling and pain in the affected joint and fever.
6) Gastrointestinal infection include irritability, vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, headache, fever, abdominal distension and abdominal pain.