Killer superbug CPE is almost untreatable

[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”2/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]As a nation we have got used to the word ‘superbug’. Ask most people for an example of one and MRSA or Clostridium Difficile will spring to mind. We know that they can be bad news, especially when it comes to the frail or those with underlying health issues.

But now another superbug has hit the news: CPE or Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae. It often leads to infections like pneumonia or E coli. It infects 2000 people a year in the UK and has taken 81 lives since 2009. Worse still, it is almost completely untreatable.

That is because it has become resistant to carbapenem antibiotics, which the World Health Organization (WHO) classes as critically important antibiotics and a last resort treatment.

In fact, last month WHO identified Enterobacteriaceae as one of three superbugs for which we desperately need to find a new treatment. Along with Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, it is resistant to multiple drugs and can cause serious, even fatal, illness.

How can care homes tackle the risk?

By following a thorough and consistent cleaning routine, care home staff can ensure they have effectively disinfected all touch points on the premises, helping to reduce the risk of CPE and other superbugs spreading between residents, staff and visitors.

If you don’t have a prescribed cleaning routine, why not click here to download our cleaning plan, Not only does is act as a useful prompt to remember what needs cleaning, the cleaning record can be competed to provide evidence of what was cleaned and when.

Of course, there is no point cleaning your care home thoroughly if visitors, residents and staff are not taking care to clean their hands properly after using the toilet or catering areas.

By clicking here you can download a handy visual guide to effective hand washing, which can be handed out at staff training sessions or laminated and positioned at relevant points around your care home.

Finally, make sure you are using a cleaning and disinfecting product that has been independently proven to destroy the bugs you want to tackle.

By using a hospital-grade cleaner and disinfectant, such as Virusolve+, you can effectively destroy a wide range of bacteria and superbugs including Enterobacter sakazakii, Escherichia coli and the Influenza virus.

Depending on the bacteria, Virusolve+ can destroy it within 1 to 10 minutes, whilst also leaving a residual barrier that fights infection for up to 7 days.

Just click here to order Virusolve+ now.

What happens if you have a CPE outbreak?

If someone is infected with CPE in your care home, you can click this link to access a handy toolkit to handle a CPE outbreak. Drawn up by Public Health England, it provides useful advice for residential care homes looking to control the spread of this dangerous bug.

As the toolkit points out, Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae can be eliminated from the environment by stringently applying normal standards of cleaning and decontamination.

As such, rigorous and thorough cleaning is just as important to rid a care home of CPE as it is for preventing an outbreak in the first place.
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