An independent report by the University of Limerick Hospital Group has found that a superbug may have been associated with the deaths of eight patients over an eight-year period, but they did not die directly from it.
Carbapenemase Producing Enterobacteriaceae is one of the newest antibiotic resistant superbugs, which is resident in the gut or stomach and is harmless if it remains there, but can be fatal if it spreads to the urine or blood.
It was first detected in Ireland in 2009 and the Health Service Executive said it was one of the most difficult superbugs to kill with antibiotics.
An independent review of 73 patient deaths at the UL Hospital Group between 2009 and 2017 found that CPE had been detected in eight of those deaths.
But there were also a number of others factors involved and these eight patients did not die from the bug alone.
The review began last year after a whistleblower claimed that a number of deaths were caused directly by CPE.
Detection and management of the bug causes major problems in hospitals, as patients have to be isolated and infection control measures, such as strict high-level contact precautions and restricting visitors, have to be put in place to manage any CPE outbreak.
UL Hospital Group is comprised of University Hospital Limerick, University Maternity Hospital, Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital and St John's Hospital (voluntary).
Superbug associated with eight deaths at Limerick hospitals https://t.co/SNvTfKUc8b pic.twitter.com/Xlt3zao7LK
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) October 9, 2018
