Four patients have tested positive for the “Indian superbug” that is resistant to most antibiotics, forcing Mater Dei Hospital to step up its infection prevention measures.

The hospital said yesterday that the New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae was detected in four patients localised in one particular area. None of them have clinical signs of infection.

Mater Dei said this bacterium was a multi-drug resistant organism that was sensitive to a narrow range of antibiotics.

“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,” it said.

Management at Mater Dei Hospital is further enhancing strict compliance with infection prevention and control measures

Dubbed as the new MRSA and referred to as NDM-1 in short, it is resistant to nearly all antibiotics, including carbapenem antibiotics – or the antibiotics of last resort.

It is not yet clear whether the patients contracted the bacterium at the hospital, and if they are local residents or tourists.

The hospital also failed to clarify what protocol it was following and if other patients were being screened.

Questions sent to the hospital were not answered by the time this newspaper went to print.

In May 2015, the Times of Malta had reported that the incidence of the deadly and contagious bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae was not as high as the 2011 outbreak, but data had showed a spike during the last quarter of 2014, especially in intensive care.

Head of the infection control department Michael Borg had noted that if MRSA was a superbug, this was a “super-superbug”.

It was very difficult to treat because it was extremely resistant to antibiotics, but the most important thing was to avoid it through the same method used for MRSA – good hand hygiene, use of alcohol rubs and proper antibiotics use.