Firm at forefront of MRSA investigation
A CHEMIST in Northampton has been drafted in to undercover investigations to expose the extent of the potentially lethal super bug MRSA in the nation's hospitals.
The blight of MRSA on the National Health Service has become a recurring headache for the Government, despite ministers repeatedly pledging to tackle the problem and clean up the country's hospital wards.
Chris Malyszewicz has been employed in a series of investigations carried out by tabloid newspapers and documentary film makers to find out how widespread MRSA is.
He has been involved in testing swabs taken from not only hospitals and ambulances, but also from cabs, banks and the London Underground to see how prevalent MRSA is.
He said: "We know that we have got it (MRSA) badly in this country, but we don't want to admit it. We have got to realise how dangerous it is and how easily it can be spread."
Mr Malyszewicz has been running the chemical firm, Chemsol, for 18 years, developing disinfectants to combat harmful bacteria.
His research has led him to believe that MRSA is a widespread problem across Britain's hospitals, which is not being tackled effectively by the Government.
But he said the problem stemmed from people carrying the bug in and out of hospitals and onto the streets.
He added: "Thirty per cent of people are carrying it around with them. They go into a hospital and pass it on. The hospitals are fighting a constant battle to get rid of it, but people keep bringing it in.
"How bad is it going to get before the Government do something?"
To highlight the problem, Mr Malyszewicz carried out his own experiment two years ago outside of a hospital environment.
He took swabs from banks, shops and the underground in London and was astonished with the results finding small amounts of MRSA on many of the samples.
His results were printed in a national newspaper and the next day the media flood gates opened.
Mr Malyszewicz, who works with the national MRSA support group, said: "My name wasn't even in that story, but I got a phone call the next day from another paper saying could I look at it in hospitals. I have been involved in many newspaper investigations since."
He also carried out a test on the public in Northampton last summer. He said out of the 10 people that he tested at random on the street, seven had MRSA on their hands.
Health Minister Lord Warner said the Government's Rapid Review Panel was constantly analysing new products to help NHS staff improve hospital cleanliness, hygiene and infection control. He said: "Thanks to the excellent work of our review panel we now know what will definitely work, what will need more testing before being used in the NHS and what has little to offer in relation to MRSA."
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