Ireland has no means of tracking the progress of so-called "superbugs", and a national surveillance system which would do this is an essential requirement in the fight against infection, a senior microbiologist has argued.
Dr Conor Keane, professor of clinical microbiology at Trinity College Dublin, said Ireland was on a par with former eastern bloc countries such as Romania and Bulgaria in having no such system. Meanwhile, the incidence of hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) was increasing "at an alarming rate".
Ten years ago, he said, MRSA was confined to the State's main cities, where the larger hospitals were located. But it had since extended into smaller hospitals throughout the State.
Dr Keane was speaking at the presentation of a survey of Irish attitudes to infection, which shows that while a third of people believe they are more prone to infection nowadays, there is little awareness of factors which weaken the immune system.
Smoking and unhealthy diet were identified as factors by 31 per cent of the study's 1,000 respondents; 9 per cent identified lack of fitness; while ageing was cited by 5 per cent.
Dr Oswald Morton, a consultant pharmaceutical physician who advises Pharmaton, the company which commissioned the survey, claimed a series of experiments supported the view that vitamin supplements and ginseng extracts could help boost the immune system.
However, Prof Conleth Feighery, a consultant immunologist at St James's Hospital, said there was still a lack of knowledge of ways to boost the immune system.
