Superbugs MRSA and Clostridium difficile killing record numbers of patients
Pastor Dale Morgan
Superbugs MRSA and Clostridium difficile killing record numbers of patients*
By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent
Last Updated: 6:02PM BST 22/05/2008
Record number of patients are dying in hospitals and nursing homes after
contracting superbugs, new figures show.
MRSA and Clostridium difficile were linked to more than 8,000 deaths in
England and Wales in 2006, up from 5,300 the previous year.
The first ever breakdown of deaths from both infections by location
released by the Office for National Statistics shows that the vast
majority of patients died from the bugs in hospital.
The deadly infections also killed small numbers of patients in nursing
homes and hospices.
In total there were 6,424 deaths from C difficile in all three locations
in 2006, almost double the 3,719 deaths caused by the infection in 2005.
MRSA was responsible for 1,625 deaths, up from 1,621 the previous year.
The worst hospital for C difficile deaths in England or Wales was the
Royal United Hospital in Bath, which had 268 deaths from the infection
between 2002 and 2006.
The George Eliot hospital in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, the Walsgrave
Hospital in Coventry and the Royal Infirmary in Leicester all had more
than 200 deaths caused by the infection over the same period.
Maidstone hospital in Kent, which was part of one of the worst outbreaks
of the infection in the country when more than 90 patients died at three
hospitals run by Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust died from the
bug, had 113 cases over the same period.
With 94 deaths Derriford Hospital in Plymouth had the highest number of
deaths from MRSA cases between 2002 and 2006.
Over the same period, The Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth
recorded 81 deaths from MRSA, Maelor Hospital Wrexham 79 deaths and the
Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Somerset 77 deaths.
More than 1,100 hospitals, hospices and nursing homes had at least one
death from C difficile in the last five years and more than 900 had at
least one death from MRSA.
The Office for National Statistics cautioned that many of the hospitals
who recorded large numbers of deaths from both infections were also more
likely to have high patient numbers generally. The data, collected from
death certificates, also shows only where patients died, not where they
acquired the infections initially or where they received other treatment
before their death.
A spokesman for Help the Aged said he was "concerned" at the wide
variation between hospitals.
He added: "We know that older people are at greater risk of hospital
acquired infections, so any rise will affect them more heavily."
Worst ten hospitals for deaths from superbugs
Number of deaths from MRSA 2002 - 2006
Derriford Hospital, Plymouth 94
Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth 81
Maelor Hospital, Wrexham 79
Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton 77
Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton 75
General Infirmary, Leeds 70
Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge 68
Birmingham Heartlands Hospital 67
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital 65
General Hospital, Southampton 64
Number of deaths from C difficile 2002 - 2006
Royal United Hospital, Bath 268
George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton 235
Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry 233
Royal Infirmary, Leicester 203
General Hospital, Kettering 200
Birmingham Heartlands Hospital 177
General Hospital, Leicester 169
Frimley Park Hospital 164
Sunderland Royal Hospital 152
General Hospital, Southampton 149