Superbug fatalities rise to 18

ANOTHER patient in the outbreak of Clostridium difficile has died, bringing the total number of fatalities to 18.

Health bosses said the unnamed patient at the Vale of Leven hospital in Alexandria, Dunbartonshire, had been seriously ill from an unrelated condition and that C-diff was a contributory factor but not the main cause of death.

The patient, who had been identified as being among the 55 cases involved in the outbreak, was one of four still receiving treatment. The number of patients with C-diff as their main cause of death remains at nine but now the infection, from January, February and May, has contributed to a further nine deaths.

Another patient being treated at the hospital has recovered and has been discharged, while two remain "stable" in isolation.

A ward at the Victoria infirmary in Glasgow also remains closed to new patients after four patients tested positive in an unrelated outbreak.