Sharp rise in suberbug death toll
Pastor Dale Morgan
Sharp rise in suberbug death toll*
By Matthew Moore and PA
Last Updated: 3:04pm GMT 22/02/2007
UK-More patients are dying of conditions linked to the hospital
superbugs MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C-diff), it was revealed today.
Between 2004 and 2005, mention of MRSA on death certificates rose by 39
per cent while mention of C-diff rose 69 per cent, according to figures
from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The Conservatives today described the rise as "staggering", and said the
Government had failed to put in place an effective strategy for
combatting the bugs.
"Labour's savage bed cuts over the past two years have allowed deaths
from C-diff and MRSA to grow to this appalling level," said Andrew
Lansley, the shadow health secretary.
But the health minister Lord Hunt said the rise was down to greater
awareness of the infections and more rigorous recording procedures, and
said that MRSA infection rates had now begun to fall.
The most recent figures from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) showed a
five per cent fall in MRSA cases between April and September 2006 and
the same period in 2005.
According to today's ONS figures the number of death certificates
mentioning MRSA or similar viruses almost doubled between 2001 to 2005,
from 1,211 to 2,083. The number of certificates mentioning C-diff
trebled from 1,214 in 2001 to 3,807 in 2005.
The Government has set up a £50 million fund to help hospitals tackle
C-diff, which kills three times as many as the better-known MRSA. It is
often spread on the hands of staff and other people in contact with
infected patients or contaminated surfaces, and is particularly
dangerous to elderly patients.
Incidents of the fatal bacteria have increased sharply in recent months,
and were a contributory factor in 15 deaths over two months at four
hospitals in the Midlands last year.
Today's figures also reveal that twice as many men get MRSA as women,
although death rates are similar. The discrepancy in infection rates
could be explained by women's superior hygiene, according to health
experts.