Superbugs kills almost as many as die on roads
Pastor Dale Morgan
Superbugs kills almost as many as die on roads*
By Celia Hall, Medical Editor
Last Updated: 1:22am BST 06/04/2007
Deaths from the hospital superbug, Clostridium difficile, are fast
approaching the number of road fatalities, an expert says today.
He says that patients due to have routine operations should be screened
for the bug in an attempt to stop the rise in infections.
Dr John Starr, reader in geriatric medicine at the University of
Edinburgh, says that cases of C difficile rose by 5.5 per cent over a
year while MRSA cases fell by 4.3 per cent.
"With more than 2,200 deaths attributed to C difficile in death
certificates in England and Wales, the mortality rate is fast
approaching that for road traffic accidents and is now around half that
for suicide," he says in the British Medical Journal.
Road deaths in 2004 were 2,915.
Dr Starr says that more than 50,000 patients over the age of 65 suffered
C difficile infection in hospitals in England last year compared with
around 7,000 who caught MRSA.
"Control of C difficile is difficult because, unlike MRSA, alcohol hand
scrubs are ineffective and its spores are resistant to routine hospital
cleaning."
He says that patients on waiting lists should be screened before they
are admitted to see if they are carrying the bacterium.
While it is known as "hospital diarrhoea" he argues that it is very
common in the community. "The relative increase in community acquired C
difficile far outstrips that seen in hospital. More than 13,000 cases of
community acquired C difficile occur each year in the UK, three quarters
of which are in people who have not been in hospital in the previous year.
"This raises the question of whether C difficile can still be thought of
as a purely hospital acquired infection and whether other infection
control measures are needed, such as screening people in the community
before they are admitted electively," he says.
"It is important to consider whether a C difficile control policy soley
focused on hospitals remains appropriate."
Clostridium difficile is a bacterium that lives in the gut and causes
"hospital diarrhoea". Infection can be mild or very severe and lead to
death, particularly in elderly patients.
It produces two toxins which cause the diarrhoea and damage the lining
of the bowel. But not all strains have the toxins. Those affected can
have a fever and a lot of pain.
Sometimes normal bacteria in the gut are disturbed. Doctors will stop
antibiotics if possible to allow the normal balance to re-establish. In
very severe disease, specific, strong doses of antibiotics are give to
try to kill the bacterium.