PHLS Press Release
03 September 1999
PHLS 24th Annual Scientific Conference Open Day: Monday 13 September 1999, Warwick University
PHLS surveillance shows that the proportion of all Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections caused by methicillin-resistant strains (MRSA) has increased from less than 3% before 1991 to a provisional figure of 36% for the first quarter of 1999. Dr Barry Cookson of the PHLS Laboratory of Hospital Infection will show how the pattern of infections caused by different epidemic strains of MRSA around the country has changed with time, and the factors, which affect the extent of the problem. He will also look at how infection control measures, in particular hand washing, can help tackle MRSA.
Central European Symposium in Antimicrobial Resistance, Brijuni, Croatia, 4-7 July 2003.
Overlooked Aspects Concerning Development and Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance Prof. David Lloyd, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
…focused on canine dermatology, a discipline where recurrent bacteriological infections requiring both topical and systemic antimicrobial treatment provide a situation in which dogs and their owners may exchange resistant bacteria.
British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.
June 2002
Antibiotics are used roughly equally between human and animal medicine. In the case of humans around 95 /o is used m general practice and only 5 in hospitals. Antibiotics are used a great deal in general practice and 60 to 70 of the use is questionable. ln the case of animals, 80 is really used for commercial purposes, as growth promoters or it has been commented, to overcome the problems of poor animal husbandry. Altogether 70-80 of all antibiotic use is highly questionable and should or could be reduced There are even more dreadful uses of antibiotics than in animals:
1. Five hundred grams of tetracycline treats 500 patients, but in the USA 50,000 Ibs of tetracycline is used to spray fruit trees to prevent a disease called Tire Blight', caused by an erwinia organism Streptomycin is also used and it has been observed that isolates of erwinia are now becoming resistant.
2. In the USA and Norway 150 Ibs per acre of antibiotics are put into salmon farming lakes. Often these are fluoroqumolones, antibiotics that are particularly useful in man. Scotland is trying to reduce the amount of fluoroquinolones used.
3. In Canada there is a disease of lobsters called Gafkyinia, an organism like the staphylococcus and very large amounts of vancomycin are used to treat this disease.
4. Disinfectants are one of society's answers to the big problems of resistance. Chopping boards are impregnated with disinfectants; most household cleaners have antibacterials in them. This is not the answer to any of the problems because there is a linked resistance to certain agents, for example triclosan and other agents used in these disinfectants. So by heavy use of disinfectants there is heavy pressure for antibiotic agents as well.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in 11 dogs (Prof. David Lloyd)
The Veterinary Record, January 16 1999
Tomlin J. et al
There have been reports of MRSA infections in bovine mastitis (Devriese 1975) and in a surgical wound in a horse (Hartmann and others 1997). Little information is available about the colonisation and infection of dogs and cats with MRSA, although links with human MRSA have been reported for a dog with MRSA conjunctivitis (Cefai and others 1994), and a healthy cat in a nursing home ward, from whose skin MRSA was isolated (Scott and others 1988).
Infection is a recognised complication of any surgical treatment, and infection rates of 2-5 per cent have been reported for clean elective procedures (Vasseur and others 1988). Microbial contamination occurs to a small but measurable extent even with routine aseptic technique (Klapes and others 1987). Factors such as the patients immune status, tissue injury, adequate haemostasis, prevention of dead space and the numbers of bacteria and their virulence are important in determining whether a contaminated wound develops a clinical infection (Romatowski 1989).
No La Leonard
Bacterial and Epidemiological Investigation University Veterinary Hospital (UVH)
Paper title “MRSA isolates from vet surgeries in five dogs”
MRSA is primarily of concern in human medicine due to the increasing prevalence of hospital outbreaks of infection with this organism. Typically, these isolates are multi-drug resistant and thus difficult to treat. The source of infection in humans lies either clinically or sub clinically in infected people.
Prior to 2001 MRSA had not been isolated by the diagnostic bacteriology department of University Vet Hospital, Dublin. Recently we have isolated MRSA from animal specimens on several occasions. Infection has always been associated with orthopaedic surgery or traumatic wounds in dogs or horses. Initial typing of selected isolates suggests that they are the same as those isolated from human hospitals in Ireland. It is difficult to definitely identify the source of MRSA infection in animals. Further investigation of the isolates obtained is ongoing but veterinary practioners should be aware of the possibility of the infection in companion animals particularly associated with surgical or traumatic wounding.
