While MRSA levels found in the bloodstream of Irish hospital patients are decreasing, the rates in Ireland are still relatively high, according to the latest report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

The report shows that the level of MRSA found in patients' blood is on a par with the high rates found in the UK and in some Southern European countries.

The latest data from Ireland, according to the HPSC, shows that the MRSA level from blood tests in Irish hospital patients were 27.1% at the end of 2009, compared to 33.7% at the end of 2008.

However, latest statistics from the Nordic countries and the Netherlands show that MRSA levels there are only 3% or less.

The HPSC figures are based on data collected from blood tests on hospital patients, in which the levels of the S. aureus bug resistant to meticillin (MRSA) is determined. The data is collected from public and private hospitals and other healthcare centres.

The HPSC stresses that the numbers reported under this data collection system represent only a proportion of the total number of people infected and/or colonised with MRSA in Ireland.

Colonisation is when someone carries a bacteria around with them without any ill effects and infection is when a bacteria manages to get through the skin (for example through a cut) or into other parts of the body where it can multiply and cause illness.

Meanwhile, new data from the HSE on healthcare associated infections in public hospitals shows that the level of the MRSA and MSSA (Meticillin-Resistant Staph.Aureus) bugs found in blood tests in hospital patients has continued to decrease .

The HSE stats show that in the third quarter of 2009, MRSA accounted for 26.5% of  S.aureus bloodstream tests in acute public hospitals compared to 32.6% in the same period in 2008.

However, the number of blood isolates that are MSSA has in creased since 2006, according to the HSE.

View the latest MRSA figures here