Salmonella Agony

The latest figures for the recent outbreak of salmonella agona show that some 132 people have now been infected with the bug and it’s already spread to 5 countries within the European Union. The genetic fingerprint of the microbe has been linked to a particular production line at Dawn Farm Foods in Naas, Co. Kildare. The company has decided to close the entire plant for a week and has contracted the expertise of Limerick company OMC Scientific, to decontaminate the entire production facility. How times have changed.

Many years ago when holidaying in Connemara, our holiday plans came to an abrupt end when the friends who’d been staying with us, had to return home following the sudden death of a relative. Our little holiday cottage felt very empty with just my husband, myself and our young son rattling around in it so to cheer ourselves up, we decided to treat ourselves to lunch in a local hotel. Later that evening, I became violently ill with nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea which continued relentlessly all night. I still felt very unwell the following day so we decided to give up on the holiday and return home. I shall never forget that 6-hour car journey with awful nausea, every mile was agony. My husband and son luckily were unaffected and sang songs together all the way home to help pass the time. As far as I can remember, I recovered within a few days but a week or so later, I again became increasingly nauseated until the whole unpleasant episode started all over again.  I consulted my doctor who prescribed medication to ease the symptoms. This pattern repeated itself every few weeks until eventually about two months later and two stone lighter, I was admitted to hospital for investigation and treatment. This is when it emerged that I had a dangerous form of infective diarrhoea and the bacteria was linked back to the piece of chicken I’d eaten for lunch on that fateful day in Connemara. My infection was officially notified to the Food Safety Authority and that was the last I ever heard of the sorry tale. I’ve often wondered since how many other poor souls suffered the same fate after eating food from that kitchen and I have to admit, I still to this day shudder whenever I pass by the doors of that hotel.

The HSE is presently in talks with OMC Scientific to consider using it’s technology in Irish hospitals, to reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired infections (HCAI’s) such as MRSA and clostridium difficile. OMC’s bio-decontamination service is already used in a number of British, French and American hospitals. A study published in the Journal of Hospital Infection found that this technology is 66 times more effective than manual cleaning in removing hospitals superbugs. It’s estimated it would cost the HSE about €14 million a year to cover all 52 acute hospitals in the country but this would lead to a reduction in the prevalence of superbugs which is thought to cost the HSE about €200 million a year. Now there’s a cutback worth considering!