Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, collects data on MRSA as part of the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System, EARSS. This system collects data on the first episode of bloodstream infection per patient per quarter. The Irish data showed that there were 445 cases in 2002, 480 cases in 2003, 553 cases in 2004, 586 cases in 2005 and 285 reported cases in the first half of 2006.

This year Ireland participated in the Hospital Infection Society's prevalence survey of health care associated infections, HCAIs, in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The survey provides accurate and comparable data on the prevalence of health care associated infections including MRSA in acute hospitals in Ireland and can also be compared to similar data being obtained in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Preliminary results of this study are now available. The overall prevalence of health care associated infection in the UK and Ireland study, excluding Scotland, is 7.9%. The individual figures are England, 8.2%; Wales, 6.3%; Northern Ireland, 5.5%; and the Republic of Ireland, 4.9%, the lowest.

Active recruitment is ongoing within the HSE nationally to employ essential infection control staff, such as infection control nurses, hospital liaison pharmacists, surveillance scientists and clinical microbiologists. The HSE will shortly publish a three-year action plan which will set targets in this important area.

It is difficult to identify the number of fatalities attributable to MRSA as many people also have significant co-morbidity factors. All medical practitioners have an ethical responsibility to complete death certificates as accurately as possible and this includes recording MRSA infection. Discussions are ongoing between the HSE and the coroner's office as to how best to ensure the accuracy of death certification can be improved.

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