MRSA 'super-weapon' waste of money

A LEADING scientist who helped to develop a disinfectant that NHS Scotland officials hope will provide a groundbreaking weapon against MRSA has claimed the product is little different to common household cleaners found in supermarkets.

The Scotsman has learned that two of Scotland’s largest hospitals, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, will shortly begin trials of EcoTru, a US-manufactured disinfectant, the Scottish suppliers of which claim will help defeat the spread of the deadly virus in hospital wards across the country.

A Californian medical supplies firm, EnviroSystems Inc, the producers of the non-toxic disinfectant, claim the product - used in conjunction with other products such as handwash - provides a breakthrough in the battle against killers including tuberculosis, polio, the Norwalk virus and, crucially, MRSA, which has claimed thousands of lives across Britain over the past decade.

But Dr Larry Weiss, a widely respected US expert on infection control and the scientist who oversaw the original clinical trials of the cleaning agent, labelled its sale in Scotland as the medical equivalent of exporting "coals to Newcastle".

His claims came as Scotland’s leading microbiologist and authority on MRSA, Dr Ian Gould, accused the Scottish Executive of "window dressing" by encouraging NHS trusts to experiment with products such as disinfectants rather than overhaul the fundamental flaws in the hygiene system.

Dr Weiss said he believed that importing the product to Scotland would offer nothing new to the battle against MRSA.

He said: "As a physician with significant and ongoing experience in the area of infection control and having previously served as senior scientist for EnviroSystems, the California-based company that manufactures EcoTru, I am deeply concerned that this product may be being pitched in Scotland, even in conjunction with other products, as a possible breakthrough in the battle against MRSA.

"While EcoTru may be of some value in preventing the spread of emerging infectious diseases, it is anything but a real breakthrough. Simply stated, from both a safety and efficacy standpoint, this ‘new weapon’ is almost identical to common domestic disinfectants like Dettol which are currently found in every hospital and many households in the UK.

"It is hard to imagine what scientific merit could come from a ‘trial’ of this product in Scotland when the Scottish Executive are unaware at the outset that the ‘breakthrough’ is little different from the disinfectant that they have been using since 1932. Not only is this bringing coal to Newcastle, but it may further undermine the credibility of the NHS."

Dr Weiss’s claims came as it also emerged that the American Environmental Protection Agency had twice sanctioned EnviroSystems for making false claims about the benefits of the product although the agency later approved the disinfectant for use as a non-toxic cleaner.

A spokesman for Scottish firm Bluecross Health Supplies, which intends marketing EcoTru to hospitals across the UK, claimed trials of the product in Aberdeen and Dundee will speak for themselves.

He said: "EcoTru requires no special handling and is environmentally friendly. This product has been exhaustively tested in the US and has been used successfully in the US in a number of settings including the healthcare sector. We have not actively lobbied the Scottish Executive. Bluecross is currently working directly with two NHS boards in Scotland with a view to them carrying out practical evaluations of the product. We have made no claims that this is a cure-all for MRSA, but instead should be used as part of a wider range of products."

MRSA thrives in hospitals where dirty wards and patients’ fragile immune systems have proved a devastating combination.

The introduction of disinfectants such as EcoTru is part of an elaborate series of new measures designed to tackle the MRSA bug. An estimated 5,000 people, 400 in Scotland, die from MRSA-related infections in the UK every year.

The latest figures have shown British hospital patients are more likely to catch a lethal infection than those in almost any other country in Europe.

Despite a great deal of research on the MRSA issue, experts are divided over why the virus has become so widespread in UK hospitals. As health officials in Scandinavia have proved, hospital-acquired infections can be reduced by strict hospital hygiene, frequent handwashing and a greater proportion of single rooms.

According to Dr Gould, a consultant microbiologist in Aberdeen, investment in another disinfectant is not exactly the answer to tackling the problem. He said: "There are obviously commercial reasons for marketing a product like EcoTru as a major aid in the battle against MRSA, but in my opinion, there is nothing remarkable about this product. It is another disinfectant and we don’t exactly lack disinfectants in the UK. We were approached by them and I understand Grampian NHS are considering limited trials of the product, but these sort of things occur all the time. This product, even used in conjunction with others, certainly won’t defeat MRSA."

Dr Trent Galow, from Edinburgh University’s chemistry department, said the similarities between common household disinfectant and EcoTru seemed remarkable. He said: "Both Dettol and EcoTru appear to have an identical active agent and they rely on the same molecule to do the job of disinfecting.

"Even though EcoTru and Dettol may have different formulations, in that other chemicals that are added to the active molecule to turn it into a useful product, I would expect both to have the same general behaviour with microbiological entities, such as MRSA."