C-diff superbug kills 'at least 49'
The hyper-virulent strain of C-diff may have caused up to 78 deaths
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Sunday, 01, Oct 2006 07:48
An "extremely virulent" superbug was responsible for the death of at least 49 people during the last year, an NHS trust has revealed.
The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS trust (UHL) also said that a further 29 cases involving clostridium difficile (C-diff) were being investigated by the coroner.
David Jenkins, director of infection prevention and control at UHL, explained that C-diff does not represent an unknown threat, but that the new strain was hyper-virulent.
"NHS trusts are not required to keep information on those deaths where C-diff may have been a contributing factor. However, we are analysing this as part of the battle against the new, hyper-virulent strain," he said.
"The full analysis will take some weeks and when we have the accurate data we will let people know."
But Mr Jenkins insisted that the bug was "not just a hospital issue", with one in five cases said to originate outside of medical treatment.
He stressed that although the chances of contracting C-diff were low, this did not "diminish" the problem in the eyes of NHS trusts.
"Earlier this year, the trust set up a task force of consultants, doctors, nurses and infection control specialists to fight this new infection," the infection prevention director concluded.