Report: Superbugs killed record number
Pastor Dale Morgan
Report: Superbugs killed record number*
by Staff Writers
London (UPI) May 26, 2008
Superbugs are killing a record number of patients in hospitals, nursing
homes and hospices, the British Office for National Statistics indicated.
The office's statistics linked MRSA and Clostridium difficile to more
than 8,000 deaths in England and Wales in 2006, up from 5,300 the
previous year, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.
A total of 6,424 deaths were linked to Clostridium difficile, which
causes intestinal problems, in all three locations in 2006 -- nearly
double the 3,719 deaths caused by the infection in 2005, the government
office reported. MRSA -- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a
bacterium responsible for difficult-to-treat infections in humans -- was
responsible for 1,625 deaths, up from 1,621 the previous year.
More than 1,100 hospitals, hospices and nursing homes reported at least
one death from Clostridium difficile in the last five years. More than
900 facilities had at least one death from MRSA, the British newspaper
reported.
The Office for National Statistics said many of the hospitals reporting
large numbers of deaths from the infections likely had high numbers of
patients.
The office got the information from death certificates that showed where
patients died but not where they acquired the infection or were treated
before their deaths.