IRELAND: Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-positive (PVL) MRSA

[Guest guest]

New superbug strain has not been found in our hospitals

Wednesday, December 20, 2006 By Tom Calverley

One of Northern Ireland's top doctors moved to allay fears yesterday

of a new strain of superbug in hospitals.

Dr , head of communicable diseases at the Department of

Health, said that there have been no cases of Panton-Valentine

Leukocidin-positive (PVL) MRSA in the province to date.

But Dr would not rule out the possibility future cases in the

province.

He said: " Antibiotics are used all the time, so therefore there will

always be drug resistant bugs out there. "

Last weekend, the Health Protection Agency revealed that a PVL

outbreak at an English hospital has infected eight people, killing two

of them.

The deadly new strain was found to have caused the deaths of a nurse

in September and of a patient in March at the unnamed hospital in the

west midlands.

The HPA said it is the first time the strain of antibiotic resistant

bacteria has caused infection and deaths in a hospital.

The superbug is more commonly contracted in the community and unlike

conventional MRSA threatens healthy young people and hospital staff.

Two years ago, 18-year-old Royal Marine recruit -

caught PVL from a scratch and died within two days.

PVL attacks white blood cells, which are key to fighting infectious

diseases. It destroys tissue and in some cases develops into

necrotising fasciitis, the so-called " flesh-eating bug " .

Boils up to 10cm across are a common symptom and it can cause a form

of pneumonia that can kill in 24 hours.

While PVL has not reached Ulster yet, other hospital-acquired

infections are still a major health threat.

In July, the Belfast Telegraph revealed that MRSA-related deaths in

Northern Ireland had quadrupled in just four years, from 17 in 2001 to

69 in 2005.

Overall, between 2001 and 2005 there were no fewer than 186

MRSA-connected deaths.

And the diarrhoea causing Clostridium Difficile now kills three times

as many patients as the better-known MRSA.

The NHS financial priorities for 2007-8 included a £50m fund for

additional hygiene initiatives such as hand basins in a bid to reduce

the impact of superbugs.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2087702.ece