Supplementary to question No. 3 in the
Legislative Council on 1 May 1985
Dr. Ho:
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Sir, is the Director of Medical and Health Services
satisfied with the adequacies of isolation facilities for paediatric
patients especially in the old hospitals which were built some 20
or 30 years ago ?
Director of Medical and Health Services : Sir, special facilities
for babies who are in need of isolation are provided in all hospitals
and these include isolation wards, side wards and isolation rooms and
when necessary, infectious cases can also be treated at the Prince
Margaret Hospital's Infectious Diseases Unit. In all these areas
the strictest isolation techniques are practised and I am satisfied
generally that there are adequate provisions for the isolation of
babies who are in need of these facilities. As for the old hospitals,
for example in the Queen Mary, there are certain facilities already
for isolation. Of course in this case since the hospital was built
as long ago as 1937, there must be room for improvement and more of
these facilities will become available once the extention project
in regard to queen Mary is completed by 1987-88.
Dr. Ho : - Sir, what is the rate of occurrence of cross infection
in Hong Kong and how does that rate compare with other countries,
for example the UK or the USA?
Director of Medical and Health Services : Sir, as we all know by
nature of the functions of hospitals, cross infection is always a
potential in any hospital and in fact occurs usually at a certain
low level in most if not all hospitals. Now according to our
available data from our surveillance system there is only an average
incidence of 2 to 3% which compares very favourably with similar
studies, for example in the USA, where the Centre for Disease Control
reported a 5 6% infection of all hospitalised patients.
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