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Strategy on Way to Deal With Deadly MRSA Bug

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 September 2005, 12:00 CDT

By Nigel Gould

A major action plan to tackle deadly hospital bugs such as MRSA is be implemented in Northern Ireland next year, it emerged today.It follows yesterday's revelation that Ulster hospitals appear to be winning the battle against MRSA.Unlike the rest of the UK, hospitals in the province have shown a "significant" reduction in the number of cases of the bug over the last four years.According to the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre statistics there were 242 incidences of MRSA across all hospitals - some 65 less or a decrease of 21%.Now, as the result of a recent consultation on the Department's draft strategy document on Healthcare Acquired Infections, an action plan will be implemented here in 2006.MRSA, a type ofStaphylococcus aureus (S

. aureus) bacteria is commonly carried on the skin and can occasionally lead to blood-stream infections, should it enter the body through skin or wound infections. Overall, the number of S. aureus cases fell to 568 - some 109 or 16% reduction.Dr Brian Smyth, director of the CDSC Northern Ireland, said while the figures indicated an "encouraging picture", there was no room for complacency among hospital infection control teams. "It is very welcome to see a reduction in the overall number of cases and to witness this in hospitals throughout Northern Ireland," he said."However, it remains a challenging task to sustain this trend over future years, and this must now form the focus of ongoing work."The CDSC Northern Ireland's report was co-ordinated by consultant microbiologist Dr Tim Wyatt, who attributed the downturn in the rates of MRSA to the introduction of new and substantive infection-control measures within all hospitals."Hospitals and all their staff deserve credit for the progress that has been made and that is reflected in the findings of our report," Dr Wyatt said."The next objectives are to try and maintain this downward trend and to further develop the surveillance programme that we have put in place."The report shows that 10 of the 12 hospital trusts recorded a decrease in the rate of MRSA isolation.

Source: Belfast Telegraph

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