Five in hospital with Staphylococcus virus

FIVE PEOPLE who are carriers of the Staphylococcus virus have been admitted to Larnaca general hospital and quarantined in the last few days, the Cyprus News Agency reported yesterday.

The five all came from old people’s homes and private clinics and have ended up in the intensive care unit, surgery and orthopaedic ward of the hospital.

The Staphylococcus virus was identified following routine tests on their admission to the hospital, using liquid samples from the nose. The five have since been quarantined on the fifth and seventh floor of the hospital. There is no cause for concern, while patients and hospital staff are not at risk since all the necessary measures have been taken, said the hospital.

The five are receiving the necessary treatment to ensure that the bacteria will not be passed on to others, said senior medical officer Dr Androula Tyrimou yesterday.

Tyrimou noted that the bacteria did not come from the hospital but from outside, specifically, old people’s homes.

Different strains of the bacteria cause different infections. Staphylococcal infections mainly affect the skin, but can cause serious internal disorders.

“The hospital conducts a proper screening of patients, and takes preventive measures to ensure that this does not spread to other patients. We make tests to see if there is a problem or not. If so, they are quarantined and given proper medication so as not to transmit it on to others,” said Tyrimou.

The doctor noted that one effective way to avoid transmitting the virus was to wash the patients’ clothing above 70 degrees temperature.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.