A total of 35 residents in private nursing homes in the midwest and northeast were found to be infected with the MRSA superbug when the homes were inspected earlier this year.
Reports on the homes show 11 nursing homes in the midwest, two homes in Cavan and another three homes in Monaghan, had patients with the potentially fatal antibiotic-resistant bug when inspected between January and June.
The inspectors' reports do not say how these patients acquired their infection. Although MRSA is often picked up in hospital as a result of overcrowding, lack of isolation facilities and the failure of health professionals to wash their hands in between seeing patients, the bug can also be acquired in the community. It is possible many of the patients in nursing homes with MRSA would have had the bug on admission, particularly if they entered the homes following discharge from hospital.
Nursing homes are inspected by HSE staff, but not all inspectors' reports document the presence of MRSA in residents. The nursing home inspection reports for 2005, released to date to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act, suggest it is only being documented in the midwest and northeast. However, the HSE in the south and midlands has yet to release nursing home reports for the earlier part of this year.
The homes with MRSA patients in the midwest were: Adare & District Nursing Home (2); Ashlawn Nursing Home, Nenagh (1); Ard na Rí, Bruff, Co Limerick (1); Beech Lodge, Bruree, Co Limerick (2); Caherass Nursing Home, Croom (2); Cahercalla Community Hospital, Ennis (2); Kilrush District Hospital (2); Mount Carmel Nursing Home, Roscrea (1); Mount St Benedict, Thurles (1); Respite Care Centre, Dromcollogher, Co Limerick (1); and St Theresa nursing home, Thurles (1).
The data on MRSA infections in the Thorpes nursing home, Clarina, Co Limerick, was blacked out before the report was released.
In the northeast, homes with cases included the Esker Lodge Nursing Home, Cavan (7); Sheelin Nursing Home, Tonagh, Mountnugent, Co Cavan, (1); Sacred Heart Nursing Home, Clones (4); Drumbear Nursing Home, Cootehill Road, Monaghan, (2); and Mullinahinch House Nursing Home in Monaghan (5). These nursing homes with MRSA patients were in general found to be well-run.