IT HAS been confirmed that 44 newborn babies at Limerick maternity hospital tested positive for the MRSA ‘superbug’ along with 45 mothers.
The results refer to a seven-year period from 2011 to 2017 when there were up to 5,000 births each year.
MRSA is a penicillin-resistant bacteria and data from the Limerick Hospital shows that the numbers peaked in 2016 when with 14 babies and 12 mothers testing positive for MRSA.
In a statement, the UHL hospitals group, of which the Ennis Road maternity is a part, pointed out that colonisation with the MRSA bacteria is not the same as infection and many people carry the bacteria on their skin without suffering any ill effects.
The UL Hospitals Group stated: “the detection of MRSA while these patients were inpatients does not mean that these patients newly-acquired MRSA in the hospital. Many of these patients may have been carriers of MRSA for some time prior to detection. While this cannot be said of the neonates, many of them had mothers who were positive and who may have been the source of the acquisition.”
UL Hospitals Group provides data on bloodstream infections for a range of bacteria including MRSA to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre. Surveillance is carried out on a quarterly basis.
“Separately, hospital acquired Staph.aureus bacteraemia (including MRSA ) cases are reported to the HSE Business Intelligence Unit, on a monthly basis,” the statement concluded.
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