MRSA screening will go ahead despite concerns

SCREENING patients for the superbug MRSA is to be rolled out across Scotland – despite a report saying more work is needed to prove if it will be effective.

An interim study by Health Protection Scotland (HPS) based on pilot screening in three areas found that overall 7.5 per cent of those screened were "colonised" by MRSA, meaning it was on their body, but was not making them ill.

But in some specialities, such as care of the elderly, up to a fifth of people were carrying MRSA.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said MRSA screening would be rolled out across Scotland in the next year for planned admissions and for emergency admissions in high-risk specialities.

The report highlighted issues such as a lack of isolation facilities and the relatively low effectiveness of current techniques to rid patients of the drug-resistant infection.

The latest figures for MRSA infections in Scotland showed that 157 cases were reported between October and December – up 7 per cent on the previous quarter, but down 24 per cent compared to the same time the previous year.