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Written question asked by Lord Hanningfield (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Ashton of Upholland (Labour) on Thursday, 21 June 2007.


Health: MRSA

Question
asked Her Majesty's Government:How many cases of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus have been recorded in prisons in England and Wales in each of the past five years.
Answer

The mandatory surveillance of healthcare associated infections in England is conducted by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) on behalf of the Department of Health. Reports of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from blood cultures in English NHS acute trusts are reported to the HPA via a web-enabled surveillance system. Prisons are not currently included as a site in this surveillance programme. Nor are prisoners currently identified in surveillance data if they are treated for MRSA bacteraemia in an acute trust. Therefore, we do not have any accurate data on the rate of MRSA infection among prisoners in England and Wales currently or in the previous five years.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
4298; 693 c68-9WA
Session
2006-07
Subjects
Prisoners Prisons MRSA
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk