One in every 20 patients in Irish hospitals at any given time has a hospital associated infection, new research indicates.
The research, published yesterday, shows that in 10 per cent of these patients the bug which they have picked up is MRSA.
This means one in every 200 adult patients in hospitals in the State at any point in time will have contracted MRSA, an antibiotic resistant superbug. MRSA can prove fatal if it gets into the bloodstream.
The study, which measured hospital associated infection rates in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales, was carried out by the Hospital Infection Society, a UK-based body representing microbiologists, infection control nurses and other health professionals in Britain and the State.
It was presented at a conference in Amsterdam yesterday and released later by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Carried out between February and May this year its aim was to ascertain the number of patients in hospital who had or were being treated for an infection which they did not have on admission to hospital. Children were excluded.
The researchers surveyed a total of 75,763 beds and found 7.6 per cent of adult patients in acute hospitals to have a healthcare-associated infection.
In the Republic, where 45 hospitals with a total of 7,518 patients were surveyed, it emerged that 4.9 per cent of patients overall had hospital associated infections.
In Northern Ireland the prevalence rate was 5.5 per cent, in Wales 6.3 per cent, and in England 8.2 per cent.
Teresa Graham of the support group MRSA and Families said she worried the figures for the Republic could be an underestimate of the true position because not all hospitals actively screened patients for MRSA.
But even the figures which have been presented, showing one in every 200 patients picks up MRSA, are too high, she said.
"A lot of what is happening in hospitals can be and should be prevented," she added.
Dr Kevin Kelleher, assistant national director of population health with the HSE, said of the findings: "This is the piece of information everybody has been asking us to tell them which is how much MRSA there is, but more importantly how much hospital associated infection is in the system, and what this survey is saying is that one in 20 patients gets an infection as a result of being in hospital . . . and the bug that causes their infection in 10 per cent of cases is MRSA".
Other hospital acquired infections found in Irish patients included pneumonia, gastro-intestinal infections, urinary tract infections and ear, nose and throat infections. They were more prevalent in older patients.
Dr Kelleher said a breakdown of hospital by hospital infection rates from the survey would be available later in the year.
"This information helps us gauge what resources and initiatives are required to reduce this level of infection and prevent people getting these infections," he added.
"Without doubt there is a lot more to be done and the HSE is committed to doing all it can to reduce this rate," he said.
The HSE, in a statement, said it was committed to appointing extra infection control nurses, antibiotic liaison pharmacists and surveillance scientists in its attempt to bring the infection rates down.
"In the medium to long term, capital funding will be committed to increase the number of single rooms and isolation facilities in keeping with best international practice in hospital design," it added.