More than 40 patients at Galway hospitals contracted potentially fatal MRSA blood poisoning infections last year, a Prime Time programme reported last night.
University College Hospital Galway and Merlin Park Hospital were the only two out of the 36 main acute hospitals in the State to provide RTÉ's Prime Time with the MRSA figures when requested.
Those figures showed that 25 patients at UCHG and 18 patients at Merlin Park developed bloodstream MRSA last year, the most serious form of the virus which is 50 per cent fatal. A total of 492 new patients at UCHG and 236 at Merlin Park were found to be carrying the MRSA superbug.
Although some patients develop infections, others can carry the bug without any effect. There is particular risk from the antibiotic-resistant methicillin resistant staphylococtus aureus after surgery.
A Western Health Board spokeswoman said while most cases were found in acute hospitals, MRSA was found in nursing homes and in people in the community.
"The majority of individuals who test positive for MRSA are colonised only," she said. "The finding of MRSA is incidental, does not influence their clinical state or the course of their illness and they do not need treatment for it.
"Higher numbers of MRSA positive samples will be found in those hospitals with active surveillance and in hospitals that deal with more complex cases and have a high rate of transfer from other hospitals."
