Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2019
916. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Health the action he is taking to address the incidence of carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae infections; the number of cases of this infection that occurred here in 2017, 2018 and to date in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19533/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraOn 25 October 2017, I convened the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) as a result of the activation of the Public Health Emergency Plan, as a public health response to CPE in Ireland.
Over the last eighteen months, a number of measures have been put in place including strong governance arrangements for healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) within the HSE. The NPHET has also driven enhanced surveillance of HCAIs and built capacity within the system for the challenges associated with these threats. Guidance documents have been developed by the Expert Group convened by the NPHET which provide expert advice to hospitals and the community health care services regarding actions that should be taken regarding CPE screening and control of spread of CPE.
My Department has allocated significant targeted funding of €7 million to increase our public health system’s capacity to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and healthcare-associated infections, including the superbug CPE. This includes €2 million allocated in 2018 and a further €5 million for 2019. This funding will help to ensure a sustainable response by building infection prevention and control teams both in hospitals and in the community to reduce the spread of infection and disease, enhance surveillance and optimise the use of antimicrobials such as antibiotics.
The next phase of work will focus on the HSE's further implementation of measures to address CPE and other HCAIs to ensure a coherent operational response. My Department and the HSE will continue to work closely together on this important issue. This is also in line with the priorities identified under Ireland's National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2017-2020.
CPE means a type of bacteria that lives in the gut and is resistant to almost all antibiotics. If CPE stay in the gut they are mostly harmless and this is called colonisation. Only a small number of people who are colonised with (carry) CPE will go on to develop an invasive CPE infection.
Under Infectious Diseases Regulations, invasive CPE infection has been a notifiable disease since September 2011 and cases are reported through the Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting (CIDR) system. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) publishes national data on invasive CPE infections since 2012. In 2017 there were 14 notifications of invasive CPE infections and in 2018 there were 16 notifications. Published data for 2019 reports that there were two notifications of invasive CPE infection up to the end of February.
As part of the enhanced surveillance of CPE established via the NPHET, the HPSC now publishes a monthly CPE surveillance report. This surveillance report includes national data on rates of CPE infection and colonisation as well as data on outbreaks, screening and other related information. Data are available from December 2017 and all reports are available on the HPSC’s website hpsc.ie.
