R1MC downplays bacteria scare
A RUMOR about the widespread presence of a deadly miscroscopic bacteria in the Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) last week caused public panic and fear particularly inside the hospital.
R1MC officials, in a hastily called press conference, explained that the scare was without basis since the bacteria known as Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacteria that’s found everywhere even in hospitals.
Dr. Michael Canto, hospital spokesperson, added said there is nothing to be alarmed about because pseudomonas bacteria though harmful can be easily cured by antibiotic that is readily available in most pharmacies.
Dr. Arnel Gazmin, assistant hospital director for support services, and Dr. Calixto Alano, head of the infection control committee of the hospital, were also present during the press conference to assuage the public’s fears.
Hospital authorities detected the bacteria last Monday and immediately undertook sanitation of the delivery and recovery rooms and the intensive care unit (ICU).
Canto said the sanitation is in fact a routine procedure done every month to make the rooms safe for all patients.
He added that side by side with the sanitization procedure and as a precaution, doctors limited the number of patients brought to the operating and delivery rooms.
Patients who could not be accommodated were given the option to go to the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital (PPH) in San Carlos City, which many did, unduly overcrowding the PPH wards and igniting the scare that something major was wrong with the R1MC.
Gazmin said he was shocked to hear a media report Wednesday night that R1MC has closed some of its wards and had stopped admitting patients.
He denied this and said other than to limit the number of patients, R1MC continued to operate the wards normally.
The scare is believed to have been exacerbated by reports on the death of one medical intern, Irene Quiton, 32, a native of Infanta, last Saturday, who was diagnosed to have dengue encephalitis, not meningococcemia as earlier reported.
Gazmin and Canto clarified that the death of Quiton and the discovery of the pseudomonas bacteria are separate cases and not related.
Quiton, who was taking her internship at R1MC, was already in coma when she was rushed by her board mates to R1MC from their apartment after suffering from high fever for several days.
While on duty at R1MC, Quiton did not declare that she had a high fever and only asked to go home last Friday, as she was not feeling well.
She was later diagnosed by Drs. Alexis Canto and Philip Oliva to have suffered from dengue encephalitis.—LM
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