Friday, February 23, 2007
UK deaths from hospital superbugs have soared to record levels.
Latest figures show Clostridium difficile and MRSA between them were involved in 5,436 deaths in a single year. Experts fear the statistics are just the tip of an iceberg and say many infections go unrecorded. Graham Tanner, chairman of the National Concern for Healthcare Infections, said there was still "vast under-reporting" because many doctors failed to follow guidelines on certifying the cause of death.
He said the true toll could be as high as 27,600. There were at least 230,000 infections and their average mortality rate was 15 per cent.
Britain has one of the worst records for MRSA in Europe. A recent report put the UK fifth bottom for rates of the superbug, above only Malta, Romania, Cyprus and Portugal.
Although some people can be healthy carriers of C. difficile, in most cases the disease develops after cross infection from another patient, either through direct patient to patient contact, via healthcare staff, or via a contaminated environment. A patient who has C. difficile diarrhoea excretes large numbers of the spores in their liquid faeces. These can contaminate the general environment around the patient’s bed (including surfaces, keypads, equipment), the toilet areas, sluices, commodes, bed pan washers, etc. They can survive for a long time and be a source of hand-to-mouth infection for others. If these others have also been given antibiotics, they are at risk of C. difficile disease.
IMO: In the UK, filthy wards and doctors and nurses watching their own backs and to hell with the patients. Seen 'em all. And think of Mumbai, 1440 people to a toilet in the slums.
He said the true toll could be as high as 27,600. There were at least 230,000 infections and their average mortality rate was 15 per cent.
Britain has one of the worst records for MRSA in Europe. A recent report put the UK fifth bottom for rates of the superbug, above only Malta, Romania, Cyprus and Portugal.
Although some people can be healthy carriers of C. difficile, in most cases the disease develops after cross infection from another patient, either through direct patient to patient contact, via healthcare staff, or via a contaminated environment. A patient who has C. difficile diarrhoea excretes large numbers of the spores in their liquid faeces. These can contaminate the general environment around the patient’s bed (including surfaces, keypads, equipment), the toilet areas, sluices, commodes, bed pan washers, etc. They can survive for a long time and be a source of hand-to-mouth infection for others. If these others have also been given antibiotics, they are at risk of C. difficile disease.
IMO: In the UK, filthy wards and doctors and nurses watching their own backs and to hell with the patients. Seen 'em all. And think of Mumbai, 1440 people to a toilet in the slums.
# posted by uv : 9:52 PM
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