THERE WAS a significant increase in certain types of antibiotic resistant bacteria in 2007, according to the latest annual report of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
While the percentage of methicillin-resistant staph aureus (MRSA) dropped slightly in 2007, invasive infections by resistant forms of the streptococcus pneumoniae bug increased by 7 per cent between 2004 and 2007.
Some 1,750 patients were found to have an invasive form of E.coli, an increase of almost 5 per cent from 2006 levels. The number of E.coli infections that proved resistant to antibiotics such as gentamycin, ciprofloxacin and certain cephalosporins also increased.
Welcoming the reduction in the proportion of MRSA bloodstream infections that were resistant to the antibiotic methicillin, centre director Dr Darina O'Flanagan said: "antimicrobial resistance continues to be a growing problem in other pathogens , such as enterococci and E.coli". She called for additional measures to promote prudent antibiotic use in hospital and community settings in order to reduce the burden of antimicrobial resistance in the Republic.
The report shows the majority with an invasive E.coli infection were 65 or older. Urinary tract infections and infections of the gastro-intestinal tract were the main bacteria sources before they invaded the blood stream.
Data from enhanced surveillance confirmed that most bloodstream infections were acquired while patients were in hospital. The exception was streptococcus pneumoniae, almost 80 per cent of which was community acquired.
Centre data also shows a steady 3 per cent increase in antibiotic consumption here every year since 2000. The Republic is one of only four countries in Europe where antibiotic usage is still on the rise. "The consistently increasing trend in outpatient antibiotic usage may lead to Ireland having the highest rate of usage in Europe", the report notes.