One third of superbug deaths in Europe ‘could be prevented’

UP TO a third of the 50,000 deaths a year in Europe caused by superbugs could be prevented, according to the European Centre for Disease Control.

The number of infections is increasing rapidly and Ireland has one of the highest rates in the EU, according to figures released by the centre.

Antibiotic-resistant diseases have been associated with hospitals but reports from the US show they are rapidly spreading in the community, including in schools and sports clubs.

The best known, MRSA, is carried on the skin and in the noses of about a third of the healthy population but can be life-threatening when it infects the bloodstream or wounds from surgery. It is resistant to most antibiotics.

Health First Europe, an alliance of patients, healthcare workers, experts and industry, has launched a campaign for Europe-wide standards to be drawn up and for improved data collection.

Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle said the most important disease threat in Europe is from micro-organisms that have become resistant.

About three million people catch these infections and an estimated 50,000 people die from them each year in the EU.

“This is a huge and rapidly growing problem in our hospitals and it is now a growing problem in the wider community,” she said.

But there are huge differences in the number of infections in the various countries with southern European countries, Ireland and Britain reporting the highest rates of MRSA while northern countries have less than 1% among patients.

Ireland must learn from other countries such as Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands where infection is a fraction of what it is in Ireland, she said.

An EU report said: “The uncompromising search-and-destroy policy in the Netherlands and in Nordic countries appears to be effective in controlling the emergence of MRSA.”

These countries have also addressed the main causes of MRSA and other such diseases including the overuse of antibiotics. In Ireland their use increased by a third in the 10 years to 2004.

Among the recommendations made by the Health First Europe group yesterday is to set up infection control teams in each hospital.

The estimated cost of such teams in a 250-bed hospital equals the cost of maintaining one hospital bed a year, according to a US study.