SEAN P. ANDREWS,
Sir, - At present, a superbug called MRSA (methecillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) is stalking Irish hospitals. This is one of a group of bacteria which have become resistant to common antibiotics.
While MRSA is not a threat to people who are well, it can cause serious problems for patients who have undergone surgery or whose resistance to infection is low, such as the very old or the disabled. The anecdotal evidence available in the community suggests that many people who are admitted to hospital may have the additional burden of having to fight a serious hospital infection which they acquire during their stay.
According to surveys of hospital laboratories in Ireland, we have one of the highest incidences of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Europe. However, there are no figures available which detail the numbers of patients who become ill, or die, as a result of MRSA infection. Ireland is not far behind Britain, which according to the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (EARRS) has the highest recorded rates. The Scandinavian countries, by contrast, show very low incidence of this problem.
In the UK, the National Audit Office reports that hospital acquired infections cost the British National Health Services £1 billion sterling a year and are the cause of 5,000 deaths. If MRSA infection is a serious problem in Britain, and hospital laboratories in Ireland are recording the presence of resistant bacterial to close on British rates, the logical conclusion is that people in Ireland are certainly becoming gravely ill and dying from MRSA infection.
Because the available treatments for this condition are limited to a diminishing number of powerful antibiotics, some of which have undesirable side effects, the major priority in hospitals should be to prevent infection. Careful hand-washing by medical and nursing staff and disinfecting wards and equipment on a systematic and regular basis is known to be highly effective in curbing the spread of MRSA. The available evidence suggests that this is not being done very consistently in Irish hospitals.
Why is there no public concern about this? There is an urgent need for the Department of Health and Children to openly admit that this is a serious problem, which threatens our health service, and the people who use it. The public has a right to know the exact extent of this problem and what is currently being done to eradicate it. - Yours, etc.,
Sean P Andrews, Laragh Demesne, Maynooth, Co Kildare.