MRSA, Staph, Staff, Mersa, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Symptoms & Treatment

HSE rebukes 'alarmist' laundry infection claim

Link: HSE rebukes 'alarmist' laundry infection claim - Features, Lifestyle - Nenaghguardian.ie.

The Health Service Executive has described as 'alarmist and irresponsible' a claim from a Limerick based Sinn Féin representative that hospitals and nursing homes in North Tipperary are being put at risk of infection over the HSE's system of transporting laundry. Maurice Quinlivan last week stated that the HSE was transporting clean laundry to nursing homes and hospitals in North Tipperary, Limerick and Clare in the same lorry as dirty laundry, severely increasing the risk of contamination from infections such as MRSA. Mr Quinlaven said that contaminated laundry marked 'MRSA' is often transported in the same lorry and claimed senior management in the HSE was aware of this practice. 'Whilst no one can claim for certainty that cross-contamination is taking place, what is certain is that this is a disgraceful practice,' Mr Quinlivan said last week. 'Senior management in the HSE must take responsibility for putting patient care at risk in such a cavalier manner.

MRSA cases fall slightly as threat of infection persists

Link: MRSA cases fall slightly as threat of infection persists - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie.

THE numbers of patients becoming infected with potentially lethal hospital superbug MRSA fell only slightly last year, despite promises to step up the fight against superbugs. Newly released figures show there were 533 cases of bloodstream MRSA infection reported last year, compared with 588 in 2006. Trend Although the trend has been downward since 2005 -- when there were 592 cases -- patients remain at serious risk of infection. Health Minister Mary Harney said the target over the next three to five years remains to reduce hospital-acquired infections by 20pc and MRSA by 30pc. The aim is to cut our use of antibiotics, which contribute to the growth in these infections, by a fifth, she said. However, the Irish Independent has learned that there are only 11 hospitals around the country which have full-time in-house microbiologists.

Coroner seeks action over 'superbug' incidence in Dublin

Link: ireland.com - The Irish Times - Fri, Apr 25, 2008 - Coroner seeks action over 'superbug' incidence.

THE DUBLIN county coroner is to write to HSE chief executive Brendan Drumm requesting the prompt appointment of a microbiologist at a Dublin hospital following a high incidence of "superbug" related deaths at the facility. GEORGINA O'HALLORAN reports. Dr Kieran Geraghty has called for urgent intervention at St Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, following the death of 16 people with hospital-acquired infections at the south Dublin hospital over a seven-month period in 2007. Of the 16 deaths, 10 cases relate to Clostridium difficile , commonly known as C diff. In five of those cases, C diff infection was the direct cause of death, with the infection cited as a contributory factor in a further five deaths, according to statistics released by the Dublin county coroner's office. Six deaths were related to the hospital bug MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ) and in half of those cases MRSA was cited as the direct cause of death. The bug played a contributory part in another three deaths.

Harney welcomes plan to identify Irish MRSA blackspots

Link: Harney welcomes plan to identify MRSA blackspots - Ireland - Breaking News - Belfast Telegraph.

The Health Minister is welcoming the news that hospitals plagued with MRSA are to be named and shamed. Currently, only the number of infections are disclosed and not the locations. From April, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre will reveal infection rates in individual hospitals. The details will be available to the public on the internet on a quarterly basis. Minister Mary Harney says the development is part of a much-needed plan to reduce MRSA infections by around a third by the end of 2010.

Irish hospitals brought to book

Link: The Dublin People Group of Newspapers - Irish hospitals brought to book.

She aimed to uncover how the superbug MRSA could plague so many Irish hospitals and reveal the real truths behind that bone of contention - co-location. “The book should have taken about 18 months but I wanted to bring it out before the general election so I managed to do it in nine gruelling months,” she told Northside People. “I guess you could say it came out of the work I was previously doing as a health analyst. I also belong to the Health Services Action Group which campaigns to maintain smaller hospitals in Ireland.” According to Marie, the book deals with a lot of burning issues. “There is a chapter on the MRSA bug called the ‘Killing Wards’,” she explained. “I uncovered how patients who have the bug are treated in beds right next to those who haven’t been infected in some intensive care units (ICU).

Patients & visitors sabotage MRSA Action

Link: Hygiene in our hospitals - Letters, Opinion - Independent.ie.

I was a patient overnight in Saint Vincent's Hospital Elm Park recently and was looked after with great care and attention. On being discharged I waited at the main entrance to the building, where there are signs about the winter vomiting bug and rows of alcohol handwash for people to use both entering and leaving the hospital. While waiting for my taxi, 38 people entered the hospital and only 11 used the wash or even stopped to read the notice. One woman actually said out loud 'F**k that, I'm here to visit my mother,' and carried on. How are hospitals to win the fight against MRSA and other infections if the stupid 'It will never happen to me' brigade won't take the few seconds to clean their hands. If not prepared to do it for themselves, they should think of their relatives who are being cared for in the hospital environment. It's the general public at large are to blame for spreading infection, from what I witnessed.

Hospitals knew of MRSA risk to patients

Link: Galway News |Exclusive - Hospitals knew of MRSA risk to patients | www.galwaynews.ie.

Hospital management in both University College Hospital Galway and Merlin Park knew that patients were at risk of contracting the hospital bug, MRSA, yet failed to contain or manage the spread of the infection. Minutes of meetings of the Infection Control Committee, which oversees both hospitals, show that management were aware of the extent and seriousness of MRSA for at least a decade and quite possibly as far back as the late ’80s. The minutes, which have been acquired by the Sentinel, show that the Committee were angry at hospital management for failing to implement a policy adopted to control the spread of the superbug.

Eire MRSA not dropping

Link: MRSA a scandal–SF.

 

The       continuing prevalence of MRSA in Irish hospitals is a national scandal,         according to Sinn Fein.The       party's Health Spokesman Caoimhghin O'Caolain said new figures from the       Health Protection Surveillance Centre show that the number of MRSA bloodstream       infections reported by hospitals last year was only five less then the       year before.

More Tests, More Testers Needed in Irish Hospitals

Link: Irish Medical Times.

Tests to detect MRSA under a patient’s bed in Mayo General Hospital were all 100 per cent positive, Dr Michael Thornton, consultant anaesthetist, has told Irish Medical Times. Dr Thornton, who works in Mayo General Hospital, said the methods for detecting MRSA are not good enough and improved facilities, isolation rooms and improved screening methods are needed. “One-hundred per cent of swabs taken from under a patient’s bed, a patient who had MRSA, were positive, we found,” said Dr Thornton. “We need systematic screening programmes to detect infections. There are too many patients on our wards, and I think only 13 of our 53 acute hospitals have proper access to a consultant microbiologist.”

More Tests, More Testers Needed in Irish Hospitals

Link: Irish Medical Times.

Tests to detect MRSA under a patient’s bed in Mayo General Hospital were all 100 per cent positive, Dr Michael Thornton, consultant anaesthetist, has told Irish Medical Times. Dr Thornton, who works in Mayo General Hospital, said the methods for detecting MRSA are not good enough and improved facilities, isolation rooms and improved screening methods are needed. “One-hundred per cent of swabs taken from under a patient’s bed, a patient who had MRSA, were positive, we found,” said Dr Thornton. “We need systematic screening programmes to detect infections. There are too many patients on our wards, and I think only 13 of our 53 acute hospitals have proper access to a consultant microbiologist.”