§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many outbreaks of MRSA have been reported to the Public Health Laboratory Service in each(a) month and (b) year of the last three years; what information is collected by the PHLS of the number of patients affected; and if he will establish central records of each patient affected by MRSA. [109017]
§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 9 February 2000]: MRSA is the antibiotic resistant form of 'Staphylococcus aureus', a bacterium which is carried harmlessly on the skin by at least a third of the population. About 80 per cent. of people who acquire MRSA similarly carry it harmlessly on the skin and do not suffer from any infection. Neither the number of hospitals recording MRSA outbreaks nor the total number of patients in National Health Service hospitals who have MRSA are recorded centrally. The Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) compiles aggregate data on numbers of incidents of MRSA which are voluntarily reported by NHS trusts. The available data on the incidents of MRSA are given in the table. We are working with PHLS on improving surveillance systems so as to provide more complete data on MRSA. This includes reviewing the Nosocomial Infection National Surveillance Scheme in order to increase the numbers of hospitals which participate.
Incidents of1 MRSA in England and Wales 1994–1998 Year Total 1997 22,364 1998 31,597 1999 1,310 1 An incident is three or more patients infected or colonised by the same strain of MRSA in the same month from the same hospital. 2 The figures for 1997 and 1998 reflect the new NHS. 3 The criteria for submission of isolates for specialist tests were revised in December 1997.