19 February 2009

Massive rise in superbugs alarming - Government Missing in Action

The Green Party revealed figures today showing a massive increase in infections caused by a particularly nasty superbug - Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE), a highly infectious organism resistant to almost all antibiotics.

"This could be just the tip of the iceberg as there is no effective monitoring of antibiotic resistant infections in New Zealand. There is funding for a national surveillance programme but no government action," Green Health spokesperson Sue Kedgley said today.

The Government confirmed today, in response to Written Questions from Ms Kedgley, that there has been a 150-fold increase in cases of VRE in the past five years, and a 43% increase in cases of the superbug Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA).

"Five years ago we had only one case of VRE a year, but last year we had 154. This exponential increase is alarming. New Zealand is losing the war against drug resistant bacterial infections."

Ms Kedgley said the huge increase in VRE cases was caused by an outbreak in Auckland City hospital that began in July 2007 and lasted for 13 months.

"We have no idea about the extent of antibiotic resistance in New Zealand, or where the resistant organisms are coming from, because there is no nation-wide, coordinated monitoring system. Current monitoring is voluntary, ad-hoc and could be seriously underestimating the extent of the problem.

"If we don't move quickly we will be confronted with untreatable illnesses," Ms Kedgley said.

"Clearly, government policies to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance are failing miserably, and we urgently need better monitoring, better infection control and reduced use of antibiotics in humans and animals.

"The Government needs to immediately implement the national surveillance programme for antibiotic resistance. The Green Party secured funding for the programme in May last year."

"I cannot understand why the programme has still not been set up, and given the change of Government, I am increasingly worried that it could be scrapped altogether.

"The monitoring system is the first step in a comprehensive strategy to fight the escalating superbug problem in New Zealand and we call on the Government to start this fight today," said Ms Kedgley.

For earlier Green Party releases on antibiotic resistance see - http://www.greens.org.nz/node/19086

Information provided by Ministry of Health in response to Written Question 240 (2009)

In the supplied table there is a noticeable increase in the VRE² from 2007 to 2008. The increase is a result of an outbreak of VRE² in Auckland City Hospital that began in July 2007 and had been controlled by August 2008.

During the outbreak period, a total of 165 cases of VRE² were reported.

Number of people from whom MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) and VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci) isolated for 2003-2008

Number of people with MRSA1/ VRE2:
Date/ MRSA1/ VRE2
20083/ 8808/ 154
2007 /8100/ 69
2006 /7116/ 6
2005 /6360/ 4
2004 /6528/ 3
2003 /6156/ 1

1 The MRSA data are based on annual one-month surveys conducted by ESR. Data from the surveys are annualised.

2 The VRE data are based on referrals of this organism to ESR. Diagnostic labs throughout NZ are asked to refer all VRE isolates to ESR for surveillance purposes.

3 The 2008 data are provisional at this stage.

ENDS

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