Bernard Allen
Ceist:328 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of patients who have died from cross-infection in hospitals in 1998, 1999, 2000 and to date in 2001. [27822/01]
Written Answers. - Cross-Infection Mortality Rates.
The information requested by the Deputy is not available to my Department. National information on in-patients in publicly funded acute hospitals is available from the hospital in-patient inquiry system. Data on mortality are compiled by the Central Statistics Office and published in the quarterly and annual reports on vital statistics. Both of these information systems contain detailed data pertaining to diagnosis. However, it is not possible in the case of deaths from infectious diseases to identify cases of cross-infection. The reason for this is that the source of infection is frequently unknown and in most cases difficult to establish without intensive research.
My Department has tried to establish whether any studies that measure mortality from cross-infection in hospitals exist and is unaware of any current research addressing the issue. Inquiries have also been made with the National Disease Surveillance Centre and it too is unaware of any source of information relating to deaths due to cross-infection in Irish hospitals.