MRSA cases down by a half

Cases of the superbug MRSA in hospitals across the West Midlands have fallen by almost half in a year, new figures have revealed.

The number of patients diagnosed across Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley, Staffordshire and Birmingham dropped to 115 between March 2009 and March 2010 from 228 the previous year. Only three cases of the superbug were recorded by The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals Trust at New Cross Hospital - down from 18 in the past year.

Trust chairman David Laughton today hailed the Health Protection Agency figures as being a "brilliant achievement."

He said: "We've had one of the best performances in the country.

"On our renal ward, which is a high risk area, it's been 1,363 days since we had a patient with MRSA.

"Only four years ago we had 88 cases of MRSA in a year."

At Manor Hospital in Walsall, the number of patients suffering from MRSA dropped by 62 per cent from 21 down to eight.

The news comes after the Express & Star reported yesterday cases had hit an all-time low.

At Dudley Group of Hospitals Trust, which runs Russells Hall Hospital and two outpatient centres in Dudley and Stourbridge, cases fell from 16 to 11.

Sixteen cases of MRSA were recorded by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust, which is responsible for City Hospital in Birmingham, Sandwell General Hospital in West Bromwich and also the Rowley Regis Community Hospital.

It compared to 21 cases identified the year before.

Cannock Chase Hospital and Stafford Hospital saw a drop in cases from nine down to only five.

At the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and Selly Oak Hospital, the number of MRSA cases fell from 40 down to 21.

However, at Birmingham's Children Hospital, MRSA cases went up from a single case up to three in the past 12 months.

MRSA is a common skin bacteria that is resistant to a range of antibiotics.

It can cause skin boils and absesses and in some cases, blood poisoning that can prove fatal.