The rate of which Metchillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) cases registered in patients has dropped from 2 patients per 1000 days in 2009 to 0.2 patients per 1000 days in 2016. This translates to a drop of about 90 per cent.

Health Minister Chris Fearne explained as such while addressing a press conference in Mater Dei Hospital’s infectious control unit. Malta previously had a disproportionately high number of MRSA cases, which is often referred to as a ‘superbug’ due to its resistance to antibiotics.

The infection control team had embarked on a somewhat aggressive campaign in order to mitigate the spread, such as washing hands, medical staff using alcohol swabs between seeing patients, awareness campaigns and screening patients who are going into long operations through the use of blood cultures. Roughly 10 per cent of the Maltese population are carriers of the MRSA. When undergoing a long operation and being a carrier of the MRSA, this can cause complications which is why more intensive screening is being carried out.

It was also said that intensive investigations on each case to figure out the facts and what preventative measures could have been taken, as well as a total reassessment of practices that used to be considered standard have all contributed to heightened awareness and useful information on how to treat.

The MRSA is caused by bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics. This is a problem plaguing the entire world and came about after the widespread use of antibiotics to treat infections. The more people ingested antibiotics, the more resistant infections became. As a precautionary measure from creating more superbugs, all antibiotics are now available for purchase via prescription only.