MSSA infection, which is also known as Methicillin Sensitive Staphylococcus Aureus, is a disease that we see popping up more and more these days. Commonly Staphylococcus aureus causes infections such as boils and infected skin wounds. It can cause pneumonia, urinary tract infections and bacteraemia both in the community and in hospital practice.
MSSA and MRSA infection are virtually the same disease, with minor differences, because they both are antibiotic resistant and generally are contracted at hospitals.Some types of Staph. aureus have become resistant to various antibiotics. These are known as methicillin resistant Staph. aureus or MRSA. Those types that are not resistant to certain antibiotics are known as methicillin sensitive Staph. aureus or MSSA.
In a Freedom Of Information received by Save the Mid from the Public Health Authority, it shows that for the first quarter of 2012 (Jan-Apl) as total of 72 MSSA cases were recorded in Trust owned buildings, 13 of which were in Antrim Hospital. This is 6 more than in any other Trust owned building in Northern Ireland.
MSSA figures are not routinely collected by Health Trusts and Trust have no targets in place to reduce or monitor MSSA instances. This is due to information received by Save The Mid from the Northern health & Social Care Trust in another Freedom of information “The decision that MSSA cases are no longer monitored is one which was made by the Public Health Agency and applies across Northern Ireland. You may wish to contact the Public Health Agency in this regard”.