A Saudi patient here is suing King Fahd Hospital for picking up a bacterium known as Staphylococcus Aureus or Golden Staph, commonly affecting surgical patients in hospitals. Badr Muhammad Jafri, a Saudi citizen, said he was treated at the hospital for a pelvic fracture and other injuries after a traffic accident. He had been transferred from Sabia General Hospital. At King Fahd Hospital, he was later moved to an isolated room because he was told he had been infected with the infectious bacterium. Jafri said his condition worsened and he discharged himself and traveled to Riyadh's Security Forces Hospital. Jafri claims that he was told by the Riyadh doctors that there was a mistake made in his surgery at King Fahd Hospital in Jizan. Seraj Omar Dukhan, spokesman of the Health Affairs Directorate in Jizan, said the bacterium is common in most hospitals in the world. He said the patient was given suitable antibiotics and was transferred to an isolated room as a precautionary measure. Staphylococcus Aureus is a common bacterium that lives on the skin or in the nose. It can cause a range of mild to severe infections and may cause death. Some strains are resistant to antibiotics. Hospital patients are more likely to be infected because of surgical or other wounds, according to the website www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au. __
