Singer Collins had MRSA superbug scare

Published on Friday 6 May 2005 02:16

POP star Edwyn Collins has contracted the potentially deadly MRSA superbug while recovering from brain surgery, it emerged yesterday.

The 45-year-old former Orange Juice singer has been in hospital since February, when he suffered the first of two brain haemorrhages. He contracted the MRSA infection through an infected scar while recovering from surgery.

Edinburgh-born Collins has been receiving a course of powerful antibiotics at the Royal Free Hospital in North London. A spokeswoman for the hospital confirmed that he had the infection: "This was detected during routine screening which is always carried out on patients who have had major surgery. He is responding to treatment and Mr Collins’s family are hopeful that he will move into a rehabilitation unit soon."

The singer’s wife, Grace Maxwell, said that he was making good progress: "Edwyn does have MRSA and has had it for a few weeks, but he has turned the corner and is now doing absolutely fine.

"He contracted it in the wound site as a result of the operation but he received treatment and has come along brilliantly. He has had further surgery to remove the infected tissue and is fighting back, just as he has done all along."

She praised the "brilliant" staff caring for her husband and said the family were in no way blaming the hospital for Collins’s infection. They accepted that anyone who went through major surgery was vulnerable and were thankful that the infection had been treated "so well and so quickly".

On Monday she posted a message on the pop star-turned-producer’s website, which read:

"This infection has been very difficult to get under control, although I’m hopeful we’re turning the corner. In spite of having missed out on weeks of valuable rehab time, he continues to feel quite well in himself and is working as hard as he can in the circumstances."

Dr Ian Gould, a consultant microbiologist at Aberdeen University, said that the singer’s long stay in hospital made him vulnerable to infection: "The longer you are in hospital the more likely you’re going to contract MRSA. In fact, to be pessimistic, it’s more surprising if you don’t get it. Some London hospitals are the worst in the UK for MRSA. You’ve got almost a one in ten chance of contracting it."