- Deadly new superbugs which neutralise antibiotics and
cause fatal blood poisoning are sweeping Scotland s hospitals, Scotland
on Sunday can reveal.
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- One patient has already died and dozens have been infected
with the pathogens which doctors admit they are powerless to stamp out.
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- Although microbiologists have been aware of the bugs
existence, experts are now saying the bacteria have almost certainly
spread to every hospital in Scotland.
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- A new report seen by Scotland on Sunday reveals that
the ESBL superbugs have infected dozens of patients at one of Scotland
s newest hospitals.
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- Between July 2001 and April this year, 41 patients at
Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride have contracted the bacteria, which
produce enzymes that break down common antibiotics. The death at the Lanarkshire
hospital is believed to be the first north of the Border.
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- Last night experts said they feared the cases were just
the tip of the iceberg and warned the pathogens could become as widespread
as MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus), which infects around
10,000 Scots each year and, together with other hospital acquired infections,
kills about 450.
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- Patients groups and opposition politicians last night
demanded urgent action to tackle ESBLs to prevent any further deaths.
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- The bugs, called extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing
coliforms, are mutated bacteria which are found in the gut, such as E-coli.
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- The pathogens produce enzymes that break down antibiotics
and pose the greatest risk to patients with weak immune systems.
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- Like MRSA, they can kill by causing blood poisoning
and can only be destroyed using special antibiotics which are reserved
for the most serious infections.
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- Dr Dugald Baird, a consultant microbiologist at Hairmyres,
who revealed the full extent of the infections at the hospital, said he
feared the bugs could become the new MRSA.
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- He said: "These organisms have a propensity to spread
very quickly. All the usual range of antibiotics, penicillins and cephalosporins
are pretty much useless against these things. We are coming close to being
down to our last line of defence.
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- "Initially a lot of the MRSA bacteria were not thought
to be very harmful and it may be that we are seeing a similar sort of
thing with ESBL-producers.
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- "You have to be concerned when you see bacteria
mutate into resistant strains before your eyes."
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- Baird added that he feared ESBLs were following the
same pattern as MRSA in spreading from the biggest teaching hospitals
to smaller local hospitals and ultimately into the community.
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- The patient who died at Hairmyres has not been identified,
but it is believed he or she had a shortage of bacteria-fighting white
blood cells, possibly as a result of cancer treatment.
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- Baird said the infection had definitely "contributed"
to the death of the patient, who had been given a routine combination
of antibiotics to which the bug was resistant.
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- In his report on the Hairmyres cases, published by
the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH), Baird
says even washing hands was not always enough to stop the spread of the
bugs.
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- He added: "Damage limitation policies are all that
we can realistically hope to achieve."
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- The warning comes as another new report reveals that
up to 60% of antibiotics prescribed in Scotland are worthless.
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- The wasted drugs, which are costing the NHS £2m
a year, are propagating antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as ESBL and
MRSA.
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- Last night, Dr Stephanie Dancer, consultant microbiologist
at SCIEH, praised Baird s "courage" for revealing the extent
of the problem at Hairmyres. She said: "This is actually happening
in most, if not all, hospitals."
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- Dancer said she was not aware of any other deaths as
a result of the superbug north of the Border, adding: "This patient,
who was very ill anyway, might have survived if the doctors had known
about the infection and he or she had been given different antibiotics.
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- "MRSA is the biggest problem but these organisms
are probably second on the list.
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- "They are very resistant to antibiotics and if they
get into a vulnerable patient it is very difficult to treat them."
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- Shadow health minister Nicola Sturgeon claimed not enough
was being done to tackle the scourge of superbugs in Scottish hospitals.
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- She said: "It is appalling that patients are dying
from infections picked up in hospitals. MRSA has always been the most
serious hospital-acquired infection. The suggestion that another equally
lethal infection is rampaging through hospitals has got to be a matter
of huge concern."
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- Yesterday, a spokesman for Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals
NHS Trust, which runs Hairmyres, said: "Due to patient confidentiality
we cannot discuss individual cases."
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- He added: "The data gathered on ESBL isolates at
Hairmyres has highlighted the problem faced by hospitals all over the world
regarding antibiotic resistant organisms."
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- A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said: "We
have made tackling all hospital-acquired infections a top priority for
NHS Scotland."
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- http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/paperboy.cfm?id=570722002
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