Isolation mooted for bug-infested patients PEOPLE transferred to Australian hospitals from overseas will be sent straight to an isolation ward if new guidelines are approved. Hospitals in many countries are riddled with drug-resistant bugs and doctors want to stop them spreading in Australia. Patients from the Middle East, southern Europe and Asia are almost certain to be colonised by highly resistant bacteria, says Dr David Looke, president of the Australian Society of Infectious Diseases. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care is finalising draft guidelines, which he hopes will be implemented before the end of 2013. Once approved, patients will be put in a single room for at least two days while they are tested. People who come into contact with them will wear gowns, gloves and, in some cases, masks. Delegates to a Gold Coast infectious diseases conference heard on Friday that international air travel is providing an unprecedented opportunity for the transfer of drug-resistant bugs. Joshua Freeman of the Auckland District Health Board told delegates that travel to high-prevalence countries and hospitalisation in those countries should be viewed as an important risk factor.