§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on MRSA and the advice his Department gives on combating and containing it. [110874]
§ Yvette CooperMRSA is the antibiotic resistant form ofStaphylococcus aureus, a bacterium which is carried harmlessly on the skin by at least a third of the population. Action is in hand to improve the surveillance of MRSA and also to strengthen arrangements for the prevention and control of all hospital acquired infections, including new standards on infection control and a programme of action with a timetable to improve control arrangements.