Hoorn clinic says 300 at risk for infection

A clinic in the northern Dutch city of Hoorn is currently testing close to 300 patients for possible infection with the VRE-bacteria. The Westfriesgasthuis partly quarantined the intensive care unit of the hospital last Thursday after four patients were contracted with the bacteria. Westfriesgasthuis. Source: Wikimedia/ Dqfn 13. VRE-, or Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci, are a bacteria called enterococci that have become resistant to many antibiotics. They live in our intestines, and in our skin and are harmless unless they cause an infection which is spread by contaminated objects or person to person. The intensive care unit in Hoorn was reopened after the area was intensively cleaned. The clinic is now testing people who may have come into contact with patients in whom the infection was first found. Those patients who have been discharged from the hospital will called to take tests as well.