The 'Sleep Safe' nightwear range contains a special silver thread which the retail giant says has been proven to guard against the disease that has plagued Irish hospitals in recent years.

Aimed at people who are spending time as hospital patients, the pyjamas will be launched in 100 Marks & Spencer stores at the end of October.

Although it is not yet known when they will arrive in Irish outlets, MRSA campaigners here have welcomed the move. "It's useful that someone is doing something about it, " said Theresa Graham of the MRSA and Families Network. "But if MRSA wasn't in hospitals in the first place, it wouldn't be necessary at all."

Last year, there were 589 incidents of MRSA reported in Ireland, although the number of deaths from the bug is unknown.

It first appeared in 1961 and since then has spread widely in several countries. It is particularly associated with hospitals and other healthcare facilities, and the Health Service Executive (HSE) has come under fire for failing to prevent the spread of the disease.

"Silver is already used in dressings, curtains and staff uniforms in other countries, although as far as we know it is not yet used in HSE hospitals, " said Graham, who lost her husband Dermot to MRSA in 2004.

"Silver can also be dissolved in water for an alternative therapy, so it's interesting that it's now branching out to pyjamas. It's heartening that so much research is being done to help prevent it."

Last year 1,629 deaths in the UK were linked to MRSA and this is thought to be behind Marks & Spencer's decision to launch the pyjamas. However, clinical trials on the pyjamas are just threequarters finished, and only a men's range will be launched at the end of October.

"They will come in three colours . . . teal, navy and burgundy, " said a spokeswoman for M&S.