Steno superbug has been here for over a decade

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Saturday, May 10, 2008

By Claire Harrison

A dangerous superbug that clings to catheters and ventilation tubes has already struck hundreds of patients in Northern Ireland, it can be revealed today.

The Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre for Northern Ireland confirmed to the Belfast Telegraph that it has recorded 214 cases over the past decade of a little-known drug-resistant microbe called Steno.

Experts in England this week added the microbe to what they described as an " ever-increasing list of antibiotic-resistant hospital superbugs" which also includes the likes of MRSA and Clostridium Difficile.

The development came after doctors studying its genetic code announced they were worried about its ability to shrug off antibiotics.

Around 1,000 cases of blood poisoning caused by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia are reported in the UK each year. Of these, almost a third are fatal. Although Steno infections are still relatively uncommon, they are on the increase, say the experts.

The surveillance centre is based at Belfast City Hospital and monitors changes in the incidence, prevalence and patterns of communicable disease in the province.

The unit's director, Dr Brian Smyth, confirmed that it has received 214 blood stream infection reports of the Steno organism between 1999 and 2007. He said there was no indication that cases are on the rise in Northern Ireland in line with England.

"Generally, there are between 20 and 30 reports annually with little discernable trend. Therefore it is not a particularly common infection," he said.

The centre does not have information on the types of patients who have been vulnerable to the microbe in the past, other than their age, or its history of resistance to antibiotics here.

Dr Matthew Avison, from the University of Bristol, who co-led the research team which published its findings this week, said the infection's ability to ward off antibiotics was "very worrying".

"This is the latest in an ever-increasing list of antibiotic-resistant hospital superbugs. The degree of resistance it shows is very worrying. Strains are now emerging that are resistant to all available antibiotics, and so new drugs capable of combating these pan-resistant strains are currently in development," he said.

The Department of Health here has made tackling all hospital-acquired infections a priority, particularly in the wake of an outbreak of C.Difficile in the Northern Trust area. That superbug has contributed to the deaths of 48 patients in the Trust area since last year.

A Belfast Telegraph poll revealed this week that hygiene in hospitals is the number one issue of concern for the people here. Almost two thirds of those questioned cited it as one of the most important issues facing Northern Ireland today.