A huge rise in deaths linked to the superbug MRSA in just over a decade has been revealed in official figures.
The number of death certificates that name the infection as a “contributory factor” has soared from 51 cases in 1993 – the first year in which records were kept – to 1,629 in 2005, a 30-fold increase.
Experts and campaigners believe that even this figure is only the tip of the iceberg because many hospitals try to avoid listing MRSA as a cause of death if they can find alternative explanations.
Ministers admitted the scale of the rise after being questioned in the Commons last week. Officials sought to explain the figures by saying that many deaths involving MRSA were those of “patients who were admitted to hospital because they were already seriously ill with another condition”.
Three years ago when John Reid was the health secretary, he pledged to halve the MRSA rate by 2008. In January, however, a leaked memo revealed not only that the deadline would not be met but that the target might never be achieved. The memo admitted that a certain level of MRSA was unavoidable, but could not specify what that level was.
Britain has one of the worst MRSA rates in Europe, ranking only above Malta, Romania, Cyprus and Portugal.
Superbug deaths up 30-fold in decade | Uk News | News | Telegraph