Midland hospitals claim victory against MRSA superbug

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJul 18 2011

Reports reveal that Midland hospitals have won the war against the killer superbug Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and some NHS trusts have completely eradicated the disease. The infection was hitting more than a thousand vulnerable patients in the region every year at its peak in 2004 and 2005, leading to many deaths.

Now the cases of the dreaded superbug have fallen to just over 100 in the last 12 months suggest reports. Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals and Sherwood Forest Hospitals in Nottingham have recorded ZERO cases of MRSA, Health Protection Agency figures show. Birmingham Children’s and Birmingham Women’s Hospitals have seen just one infection each in the last year, while Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust and Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals have had two. The highest number of infections came at University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent, with 23 patients catching the superbug. But that still represents a dramatic fall from a peak of 118.

A spokeswoman for Wolverhampton Hospitals, which recorded 209 MRSA infections between 2004 and 2007, said the stunning turnaround had been down to hard work from staff. She said a screening programme had led to the city’s New Cross Hospital being free of the infection for two years in a row.

Cheryl Etches, director of nursing at the hospitals, added, “Two years without a single case of MRSA is excellent news and is a reflection of everyone’s efforts. No patient wants to suffer from an avoidable infection and no healthcare worker wants to cause one. Staff have a huge role to play in reducing healthcare acquired infections and are encouraged to challenge anyone they think isn’t following our hand hygiene procedures.”

An NHS West Midlands spokeswoman said, “The number of people contracting MRSA bacteraemia infections in the West Midlands is the lowest since statutory monitoring began. ‘Between 2007 and 2011, the number of cases of MRSA bacteremia infections in the region were reduced by 70 per cent.” Across the Midlands only six of the 23 NHS trusts had more than five infections in the past year. One of the biggest drops came at University Hospitals of Leicester, which has seen an 86 per cent fall in infections from a high of 107 cases in 2004/05 to just 15 last year.