As from this week, the management at Mater Dei Hospital is further enhancing strict compliance with infection prevention and control measures within the hospital environment, the hospital said in a statement.

These enhanced measures are in response to the detection of a New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in four patients localized in one particular area. None of the patients have clinical signs of infection.

This bacterium is a multi-drug resistant organism which is sensitive to a narrow range of antibiotics. 

Klebsiella infections is spread through exposure to the bacteria via respiratory tract, which causes pneumonia, or the blood to cause an infection in the bloostream. Klebsiella infections are most well-known in hospitals spread through person-to-person contact by contaminated hands of surrounded people in the hospitals, whether it be an employee or a patient. Klebsiella is spread very easily and rapidly, but not through the air. Healthcare settings are most vulnerable to Klebsiella infections due to the nature of procedures that allow easy access of bacteria into the body. Patients who are on ventilators, catheters, or surgery wounds are highly prone to catching this deadly infection.