Crowded hospitals contribute to "superbug"
Date: 02-Jul-04
Country: UK
Although the government is under pressure to reduce hospital waiting lists, occupancy rates must be reduced to tackle the drug-resistant illness, which first appeared in the 1960s.
Professor Barry Cookson of the Health Protection Agency, the government body that monitors infectious diseases, said yesterday lowering the hospital bed occupancy rate to 85 percent would help to control MRSA, or Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus.
"A number of studies have shown that when bed occupancy rises above 85% it opens a window of opportunity for hospital bugs," he told journalists at a briefing.
"What all the evidence shows...is that we've got to get down to this 85%, but the government has clearly got its waiting list targets and has signed up to them," he added.
Patients in intensive care units in hospitals and the elderly living in care homes are particularly vulnerable to MRSA which can cause skin infections, sepsis and toxic shock. Some strains are resistant to almost all known antibiotics.
Dr Alison Holmes, of Imperial College, London and Hammersmith Hospital, explained that transferring patients between wards adds to the problem.
"We're trying to stick as many patients in hospital as possible. This involves a lot of juggling and leads to an increased risk of infection," she said.
But Liam Donaldson, Britain's chief medical officer, said the government has focused attention on reducing the impact of MRSA throughout the state-funded National Health Service (NHS).
"The NHS does run at high occupancy because it is treating many more patients and cutting waiting lists. In these circumstances, extra efforts have to be made to reduce the risk of infection and this is what the NHS is doing," he explained.
Donaldson added that when more beds and the number of staff are increased it will be easier to control MRSA.
