Protocol to curb MRSA

Protocol to curb MRSA

Anton McNulty

THE Health Service Executive have revealed that recent measures put in place to prevent the spread of infections in hospitals should help prevent cases like the death of an 87-year-old woman who died from MRSA, contracted in Mayo General Hospital, last January.
An inquest into her death, held last week, revealed that Sabina Keane, originally from Doohoma but who was a resident of Abbey Breaffy Nursing Home, Castlebar died from the super-bug which she contracted while she was a patient in the hospital. The case only came to light when her daughter went to register her death and the registrar contacted the Coroner, Mr John O’Dwyer.
The inquest found that when the hospital knew of the woman’s infection they did not put in place steps for the prevention of MRSA and the woman was not isolated. She died on January 1, 2007 and the death certificate issued by Dr Mohammed Badawi said she died from Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus [MRSA], Pneumonia and chronic renal failure.
A spokesperson for the HSE West said this week that they would not comment on individual cases but that since February they had introduced a national protocol and standard across all hospitals in relation to the containment of infections, including MRSA.
“Those measures came into force in February in all hospitals around the country so they have only been in action for a short while. There were other measures in place but they would not have had the national protocol procedures in place that time,” the spokesperson said.
The new infection control initiative at Mayo General Hospital includes daily surveillance and ward rounds, regular educational sessions in relation to infection prevention and control, availability of alcohol hand-gel throughout the hospital and the development of a multi-disciplinary group to further advance infection prevention and control.
Despite claims at the inquest from Dr Fionnuala Lavin, Consultant Physician in General Medicine, that the primary cause of death, in her opinion, was acute pulmonary oedema presumably secondary to underlying ischaemic heart disease and that death was imminent whether she had MRSA or not, the coroner recorded that Mrs Keane died of MRSA.
Mr John O’Dwyer said he was disappointed that he was not notified by the hospital at the time of the woman’s death or of the reasons for her death. If he had been, the conflict would not have arisen as a post-mortem would have been requested which would have given the cause of death.  He said it was clear the conflict occurred from the hospital and that Mrs Keane acquired MRSA in the hospital and died from MRSA in the hospital.
A family member of Mrs Keane declined to comment on the results of the inquest.