Deadlier form of MRSA found here for first time
AN even deadlier form of superbug MRSA was detected for the first time in Irish hospitals last year, the country's infection watchdog has revealed.
The strain known as VISA was confirmed after samples were sent from here to disease experts in Atlanta.
The detection is revealed in the newly published annual report of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) .
The strain is particularly feared because it can fight off the commonly used antibiotic vancomycin and reduce a doctor's choice of drugs for treating the patient's potentially killer infection.
Dr Darina O'Flanagan warned that while the rate of MRSA has stabilised it continues to emerge at a high level. There were 588 cases of the infection here last year.
She said the increase in our antibiotic consumption outside hospitals - a contributory factor to the spread of infections like MRSA - is rising steadily at about 2.4pc a year since 1993.
She also called for more controls to be put in place to keep TB at bay. There were 458 cases of TB last year compared to 450 in 2005. "While the total numbers have increased slightly over the last few years, the rates per 100,000 population have not changed significantly due to inward migration increasing the overall population.
"However, many of those arriving in Ireland come from high-incidence countries so it is essential that we strengthen our public health TB control services."
Last year also saw rise in leptospirosis, an infection which can be caught after a person comes into contact with water, food or soil which has the urine of an infected animal.
Nine cases of serious forms of the disease were reported during the year and people involved in river-based activities are warned to beware of the hazards.
The report showed that measles and rubella infections are at their lowest rate ever, reflecting an rise in uptake of the MMR vaccine.
But we are still behind many other European countries which have managed to eliminate these diseases entirely.
There were 210 cases of the dangerous form of meningitis reported last year and while there is now a vaccine for the C strain the threat from the B type remains.
The statistics for other infections reveal:
l There was a big jump in cases of viral meningitis - 148 compared to 35 in 2005.
l A total of 337 people were newly diagnosed with HIV, compared to 318 the previous year. Of these, 169 were heterosexually acquired last year.
l Salmonella affected 422 people compared to 348 in 2005. Many picked it up while abroad in Spain, India, Turkey, Croatia, Portugal, Tunisia and Bulgaria.
lThere were 10,142 cases of sexually transmitted diseases, including chlamydia, gonorrhoea and herpes.
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
