Superbug brought back by Iraq war
casualties
By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor
Published: 08 November 2006
Injured soldiers returning from Iraq have brought back a superbug
that has been linked with outbreaks in NHS hospitals where they
have been treated, a health minister has confirmed. The links
between casualties brought back from Iraq and outbreaks in the NHS
have caused alarm within the health service and led to renewed
demands for more dedicated wards for Britain's armed forces to
enable wounded soldiers to be isolated more effectively.
The Health Protection Agency has urged NHS hospitals to step up
their infection control measures as a result of the outbreaks of a
strain of the superbug Acinetobacter baumannii which is resistant
to many types of antibiotics.
"A multi-resistant strain of A. baumannii known as the 'T strain'
has been isolated from casualties returning to the UK from Iraq,"
the Health minister Andy Burnham said in a Commons written
answer.
He said the exact source of the infection had not been identified
but US casualties returning to America had also been found to be
carrying the superbug.
Experts in microbiology who were studying the links between the
infection and those wounded in Iraq, said an injured soldier
thought to have caught the infection in Iraq may have caused a
large outbreak of the superbug in an intensive care unit in an NHS
hospital in south-east England.
They reported that the superbug was also found in two hospitals in
the Midlands in soldiers who had been injured while serving in
Iraq. The HPA said last night it was thought the T-strain survived
in soil and sand in warm climates such as Iraq.
There was criticism last month of the treatment of injured soldiers
on NHS wards after reports that a paratrooper wounded in
Afghanistan was threatened by a Muslim visitor at Selly Oak
Hospital in Birmingham, where many soldiers are treated. A campaign
for a dedicated hospital for the armed forces was mounted with the
support of forces' families. Tony Blair partially bowed to the
pressure by announcing that troops would be given a dedicated ward
at Selly Oak.
Reg Keys, whose son Tom was killed by a mob in Majar al-Kabir,
Iraq, in June 2003, said the existence of the new strain of the
infection underlined the need for dedicated facilities for the
armed forces. "These lads are giving their lives for their
country," he said. "The least they deserve is to be treated in
military hospitals, not civilian hospitals, for reasons of
security, but the existence of this superbug is very worrying. It
proves the case even more for their own medical facilities."
Harry Cohen, the Labour MP for Leyton and Wanstead, who tabled
questions about the superbug, said: "It is a worry that this bug
which is infecting some of the wounded in Iraq is coming back to
this country and could infect other patients in NHS hospitals. It
does show that we need more separate wards for the armed
forces."
At one hospital in Birmingham the bacteria is reported to have
infected 93 people, 91 of them civilians. Thirty-five died,
although the hospital was not able to establish whether the
superbug was a contributory factor.
A. baumannii is resistant to most common antibiotics and, if left
untreated, can lead to pneumonia, fever and septicaemia. It has
been identified in more than 240 military personnel in the US since
the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and has been associated with five
deaths.
Injured soldiers returning from Iraq have brought back a superbug
that has been linked with outbreaks in NHS hospitals where they
have been treated, a health minister has confirmed. The links
between casualties brought back from Iraq and outbreaks in the NHS
have caused alarm within the health service and led to renewed
demands for more dedicated wards for Britain's armed forces to
enable wounded soldiers to be isolated more effectively.
The Health Protection Agency has urged NHS hospitals to step up
their infection control measures as a result of the outbreaks of a
strain of the superbug Acinetobacter baumannii which is resistant
to many types of antibiotics.
"A multi-resistant strain of A. baumannii known as the 'T strain'
has been isolated from casualties returning to the UK from Iraq,"
the Health minister Andy Burnham said in a Commons written
answer.
He said the exact source of the infection had not been identified
but US casualties returning to America had also been found to be
carrying the superbug.
Experts in microbiology who were studying the links between the
infection and those wounded in Iraq, said an injured soldier
thought to have caught the infection in Iraq may have caused a
large outbreak of the superbug in an intensive care unit in an NHS
hospital in south-east England.
They reported that the superbug was also found in two hospitals in
the Midlands in soldiers who had been injured while serving in
Iraq. The HPA said last night it was thought the T-strain survived
in soil and sand in warm climates such as Iraq.
There was criticism last month of the treatment of injured soldiers
on NHS wards after reports that a paratrooper wounded in
Afghanistan was threatened by a Muslim visitor at Selly Oak
Hospital in Birmingham, where many soldiers are treated. A campaign
for a dedicated hospital for the armed forces was mounted with the
support of forces' families. Tony Blair partially bowed to the
pressure by announcing that troops would be given a dedicated ward
at Selly Oak.