3 die of muti-resistant bacteria in Portugal hospital in January

The Hospitals of the University of Coimbra confirmed on Wednesday that three people died in January in the hospital due to an infection caused by Klebsiella pneumonia, a bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics.

Currently, there are 21 patients who was tested positive for the bacteria hospitalized. However, only eight of them are actually infected and received specific therapy and their condition is evolving favorably.

All of the 21 patients are in isolation in order to prevent the spread of the infection and the hospital's administration has established a task force to deal with the situation, in particular to implement containment and tracking measures and to monitor their effectiveness, based on the guidelines of the Directorate General for Health.

"We have really positive results that show that we are able to contain the infection," said doctor Jose Pedro Figueiredo.

Klebsiella pneumonia is the same bacteria that infected more than 100 people in October 2015 at the hospital in Gaia and three people died due to the infection.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Klebsiella pneumonia can cause different types of healthcare-associated infections, including pneumonia, bloodstream infections, wound or surgical site infections, and meningitis.

Klebsiella bacteria are normally found in the human intestines. In healthcare settings, Klebsiella infections commonly occur among sick patients who are receiving treatment for other conditions. Endit