Sharp increase in cases of MRSA

Cases of the virulent superbug MRSA have increased 3400 per cent over the last four years. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Cases of antibiotic-resistant superbug methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have exploded in the past five years, figures show.

The Sunday Star Times reported infections had risen from 12 in 2004 to 420 last year (a 3400 percent increase) according to Ministry of Health figures.

Green Party health spokesperson Sue Kedgley said health professionals should have been alerted to the increase.

She said the bug causes serious skin infections and if it is not caught early it can do a lot of tissue damage.

Some patients do not survive.

"This strain of MRSA is contagious, easily misdiagnosed and resistant to many antibiotics," said Ms Kedgley.

"It is a cause of huge concern overseas, because it is virulent and contagious, and is associated with serious skin infection outbreaks, particularly amongst sports teams."

The infection initially appeared as raised red dots which looked like pimples or boils.

Left untreated they could become pus-filled, golf ball-sized abscesses, which could infect bones and organs and, potentially, lead to death.

Ms Kedgley says there is money in the budget to tackle the problem, but the Health Ministry has let it get out of hand.

"The Government has failed to set up a national surveillance system that the Green Party secured funding for last year. The weekly monitoring programme for the superbug MRSA was stopped in 2005. It appears that DHBs have been left to cope in isolation with this new outbreak," Ms Kedgley said.

- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB, NZ HERALD STAFF