Fifth of patients have superbug

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6984809.stm

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More than one in five patients in a County Antrim hospital have MRSA, authorities have admitted.

Whiteabbey Hospital management confirmed that 29 patients had the superbug.

The Northern Health and Social Trust said only two of the 29 patients caught the bug while in Whiteabbey and that"the rest had it when they came in".

The trust said 19 of these patients had it when they were transferred to Whiteabbey from other hospitals.

It was, however, unable but unable to say which hospitals these were.

MRSA has been a growing problem in Northern Ireland's hospitals for the last 15 years.

BBC Northern Ireland health correspondent Dot Kirby said the bug was "now common in most hospitals most of the time but is unusual to have so many cases at once in one hospital".