Fear of deadly bacteria over; hospital reopens

City of San Fernando, Pampanga—The main complex of the Diosdado P. Macapagal Memorial Hospital (DPMMH) in Guagua town began accepting patients again on Wednesday after a week of closure as medical workers removed traces of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a fatal bacteria, in the facility.

Normal operations resumed at 7 a.m., said Dr. Eddie Ponio, administrator of the DPMMH. The provincial government runs the 100-bed hospital. Some patients were transferred to the Escolastica Romero District Hospital in nearby Lubao town while hospital personnel cleaned the building.

Ponio said he had to close the DPMMH as a “precautionary measure” after tests made on a patient confirmed the presence of the bacteria on his wounds a week after he was discharged.

Ponio said the bacterium was “hospital acquired” but it “did not compromise” the health of the patient. The patient has not sued the DPMMH.

The news website ScienceDaily said the bacteria lives in soil and is also an “opportunistic pathogen best known for infecting the lungs of cystic fibrosis (a genetic disease of the mucus and sweat glands) patients.”

Some 40 percent of the patient’s body was burned after he suffered from electric shock. The test was done in preparation for plastic surgery.

Aside from being confined in a room since Aug. 15, the patient’s wounds were treated and cleaned at the surgical ward, operating room and emergency room of the main complex.

“We were forced to stop admission. We had to decontaminate,” Ponio said.

The outpatient department and a smaller emergency room were opened during the disinfection period.

At the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark Freeport, some 20 kilometers north of here, the Department of Agriculture (DA) continued to be on watch for bird flu and cargoes and packages from China, Hong Kong and South Korea.

Dr. Ferdinand Montano, DA quarantine chief at the DMIA, said his team of four personnel and those from the Bureau of Customs enforce the ban on the entry of poultry and livestock, especially hogs and cattle from these countries. Byproducts like chicken feather and feet are also prohibited. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon