24 Aug 2015 – Latest figures from Public Health England show that the number of Methicillin Sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) blood infection (bacteraemia) cases continue to rise in the UK

The very
latest data from Public
Health England, demonstrate that the problem of Methicillin Sensitive
Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) bacteraemia (bacterial infections
in the blood) continues
to increase in the UK, with the total number of reported cases increasing
by 5.8% compared to the previous year. This increase is not a one
off, with the number of reported MSSA bacteraemias having increased
every year since the mandatory surveillance of Staphylococcal infections
was extended to include MSSA bacteraemia in 2011. MSSA was added to
the existing MRSA surveillance due to both the high national total of MSSA bacteraemias,
and the observation that the strides in reducing MRSA bacteraemias had
not
also been seen among MSSA. Whist the number of MRSA bacteraemias
has dropped since 2011, the
number of MSSA bacteraemias has increased 12% since 2011. To understand
the importance of MSSA bacteraemias, over 92% of all bacteraemias
in the UK are now caused by MSSA rather than MRSA. Dr Bill Love, CEO
of Destiny Pharma said “These latest figures once again demonstrate
that the actions implemented to reduce MRSA infections are still proving
ineffective in dealing with infections caused by MSSA and underline
the importance of developing drugs that are equally effective against
MSSA as well as MRSA.”