CPE (Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae)

Information for Parents & Carers

CPE (Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae) (587kB)

What is CPE?

(Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae)

We all have bugs (bacteria) living in our guts. This is known as colonisation and a person who is colonised is said to be a carrier. These bacteria are often harmless, however if they get somewhere they shoudn’t, such as the bladder or bloodstream they can cause infection.

Carapenems are a powerful, broad-range class of antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections. However certain types of bacteria have evolved to produce carbapenemases- these are special chemicals which interrupt the way these medications work making the bacteria resistant to antibiotics and the infections they cause difficult to treat.

What are the signs, symptoms and treatment for CPE carriage?

Most people with are positive for CPE do not have any symptoms this is because carriers of CPE have a resistant strain of an otherwise very normal bug. There is an increased chance of carrying CPE if you have:

• Been a patient in a hospital abroad
• Been a patient in a UK hospital that has had patients carrying CPE, or
• Had direct physical contact with a carrier of CPE

How do people become carriers and how are they identified?

It can be difficult to say exactly how people pick up CPE however risk of transmission increases with previous mentioned factors. We carry out surveillance, actively looking for resistant organisms. Because it is a bowel bug, we will ask for a stool sample or rectal swab. Results of this test usually come back within a day or two.

How to reduce risk of transmission?

You may notice the CONTACT isolation poster on your door, this is to advise any staff entering how best to reduce the risk of transmission. You can help too by;

• Cleaning hands before/after leaving the cubicle
• Ensure staff clean hands before they provide cares
• Do not access communal areas/atrium without first cleaning your hands

What happens when I go home?

CPE carriage will not delay your discharge home. You can carry on as normal, and practice good hand hygiene. Although CPE carriage can go away with time it is not guaranteed, therefore if you return to Alder Hey for further treatment you will always be nursed in a single room with the same additional precautions

Hand Hygiene

The most important thing you can do to protect yourself and others is to wash your hands often and effectively.

Help us keep you and our other patients safe. Clean hands are healthy hands!

Further reading

For more information on C. diff; what you can do to help and what we do at Alder Hey to stop the spread, please use the following QR codes/website link

www.kch.nhs.uk/wp-content/CPE

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