NHS winning war against superbugs

Published on Thursday 8 April 2010 22:55

CASES of the deadly hospital bug Clostridium difficile have almost halved in a year, with the number of patients being struck by MRSA also falling, figures show.

During the final three months of last year, 672 cases of C difficile were reported in Scotland in patients over 65, down 48 per cent from 1,299 during the same period in 2008.

There were also 119 cases of MRSA, down 26 per cent from 161 in the same time the previous year – the second lowest number reported.

The drop in infections was welcomed yesterday, but opposition parties warned that a recent C difficile related death in Perth showed there was no room for complacency.

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) published the latest quarterly figures on healthcare associated infections (HAI) alongside an annual round-up for 2009.

The figures showed that cases of C difficile in the elderly have fallen for seven consecutive quarters and are now at their lowest level since monitoring began.

There were 3,625 cases in total reported in over-65s last year, down 43 per cent from 2008 when there were 6,322 cases.

This meant that the overall rate for Scotland fell from 1.23 cases per 1,000 days patients spent in hospital to 0.71.

However, rates varied across the country. Shetland saw just one case of C difficile in the over-65s, giving it a rate of 0.05 in 2009.

Grampian had a rate of 1.25 cases per 1,000 bed days, down from 1.97 in 2008. Orkney reported a rate of 2.17, up from 1.91 in 2008, though the actual number of cases remained the same in both years at 21.

Collection of figures for those aged 15 to 64 only started last April, but cases of C difficile in this group already appeared to be falling. Cases fell 28 per cent to 235 in October to December compared to 327 in the previous quarter. For MRSA, the total number of cases for all ages in 2009 was 533, down from 689 in 2008.

Professor Jacqui Reilly, from HPS, said: "This report demonstrates that real inroads have been made to reducing healthcare associated infection in NHS Scotland, however there is still a substantial burden of these infections occurring every year in healthcare.

"Efforts should continue to focus on preventing and controlling these infections to the irreducible minimum."

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said patients should be reassured by the falling figures, but work would continue to reduce rates even further.

She said: "When it comes to hospital infections we may be winning the battle, however, as the outbreak earlier this week at Perth Royal Infirmary reminded us, we have not yet won the war,"

She added that she has asked HPS to look at what other steps would be needed to cut cases of infections further.

Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said:

"The recent death of a patient in Perth Royal Infirmary shows there is no room for complacency."