MRSA superbug outbreak declared at Victoria Hospital's palliative care unit
Three patients tested positive in routine screening, LHSC says
An outbreak of the deadly superbug MRSA, which is resistant to many antibiotics, has been declared at Victoria Hospital this week.
MRSA, which stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a form of Staphyloccoccus bacteria. The outbreak is on the hospital's palliative care unit, officials at London Health Sciences Centre said.
In a statement, hospital officials said the outbreak includes three patients who tested positive for MRSA over a period of seven days, and who were not showing symptoms.
"At LHSC, we screen newly-admitted patients for antibiotic resistant organisms, including MRSA," the statement said. If a patient is found to be positive for MRSA after 72 hours of admission, it's considered a hospital-acquired case.
An outbreak is when three cases are identified within seven days, or if five are identified within four days, hospital officials said. The three cases were detected through routine inpatient screening, which takes place every 14 days during a patient's stay.
"Our teams have enacted several enhanced infection prevention and control measures in response to the outbreak, including additional hand hygiene requirements, cleaning and disinfection of equipment and environment and appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE)."
Staphylococcus aureus, or Staph aureus for short, is commonly found in the nose and on the skin of about 30 per cent of people, according to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most of the time, it doesn't cause harm, and most colonized with the germ don't know they have it. However, it has the capacity to cause infections, said Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious disease specialist at Sinai Health in Toronto.
Any break in the skin increases the risk of the bacteria invading and causing an infection, which is why it's a common cause of infections in hospitals. The severity of an infection can range from a soft tissue infection to life-threatening sepsis. MRSA is when is resistant to most antibiotics used to treat such an infection.
MRSA, which is resistant to most antibiotics used to treat a Staph aureus infection, was first identified in Ontario in 1996, McGeer said. Since then, it's gradually become more frequent in hospitals and the community, a result of societal antibiotic overuse, and the prevalence of the bacteria on people's skin.
Most of the time, Staph aureus infections are linked to bacteria that was on someone's skin when they were admitted, McGeer said. Health care workers can also act as a carrier, and to a lesser extent medical equipment that may be used by more than one patient.
Between 1995 and 2007, MRSA jumped 17-fold at Canadian hospitals, according to a 2010 study by researchers from the Canadian Nosocomial Surveillance Program. MRSA is considered a leading cause of hospital infections, particularly in critically ill patients, according to a 2021 study published in Pathogens.
"You can stop MRSA from spreading by frequently washing your hands with soap and water, or by using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer," LHSC's website states.
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Compared to 30 years ago, MRSA outbreaks are uncommon, in large part due to improved infection control and early detection. There are antibiotics that can treat MRSA, but there is a concern is they too will eventually become ineffective, McGeer said.
According to Public Health Ontario, Victoria Hospital has reported an average of six MRSA cases annually over the last decade. Seven were reported in 2024, a rate of 0.28 per 10,000 patient days, while three were at University Hospital.
Victoria Hospital reported 11 MRSA cases in 2023, five in 2022 and six in 2021. The most recent outbreak declared in May 2022 in the neonatal intensive care.
Antimicrobial resistance has been called an urgent global health threat by the World Health Organization.
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With files from The Canadian Press