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The Ottawa Hospital is reporting outbreaks of the superbug Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in two units at its General campus.

Dr. Kathy Suh, director of infection protection and control at The Ottawa Hospital, said 12 patients in one unit and two in another have been identified as carrying MRSA. She said most of the patients are carriers — they have it on their skin — and are not infected with it.

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The hospital has isolated the patients and staff wear protective gear when working with them. Suh said the hospital is taking precautions but is not alarmed.

“We don’t like for our patients to acquire organisms or infections when they are in the hospital and we take all the measures we can to prevent this from happening, but it is not a cause for alarm in the sense that patient safety is jeopardized.”

MRSA is tracked carefully in hospitals and by the province because it is among infections for which first-line antibiotics no longer work.