Prince Hamzah Hospital closes surgical room after reported contamination

AMMAN — An operation room at the Prince Hamzah Hospital has been closed for sterilisation after four people reportedly contracted infections.

Hospital Director Bassem Zu’bi on Thursday said the facility was temporary closing for sterilisation and to adopt precautionary measures so as to avoid further infections from contamination in the future.

He said that the issue arose after four people underwent eye surgeries in an operation room at the hospital and suffered from severe infections, adding that the complaints were processed at once.

Zu’bi expressed his regret over the infections, stressing that the contamination would not reoccur, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The director said that streptococcus had been discovered in one of the three operations rooms of the hospital, and that room was closed as a precautionary measure to find out where the bacteria came from.

Zu’bi said that advanced sterilisation and other measures have been implemented.

He said that the bacteria are common and usually found in the mouths of humans at safe levels, but the people infected carried “very high” levels of the germ.

The hospital immediately formed two committees once the contamination was discovered, according to the director. The first panel included specialised doctors from the hospital itself who were tasked with taking samples from the three operation rooms, while the second panel was larger and formed in cooperation with the Health Ministry.

A third committee has since been formed to ensure that the hospital finds the cause of the incident and ensures similar cases are avoided in the future, he added.

The affected room has been used for some 2,000 surgeries in the past with no patients contracting infections, Zu’bi said, stressing that the bacteria is not usually dangerous and is present in all human bodies.

The director also addressed rumours circulating on social media saying that creating confusion at hospitals is unacceptable, stressing that complications arising from surgeries happen at hospitals around the world.