Toxic strain of bug kills two in separate hospitals

Published on Friday 16 May 2008 21:48

TWO patients have died after contracting a bug which has struck in two different Scottish cities.

Seven patients have been put into isolation following an outbreak of a highly toxic strain of C difficile in Aberdeen and Glasgow.

The bug was said to be a contributory, but not the main cause of death, of the two patients who died last month in the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow.

In total four patients were laid low at the ARI and five at Stobhill, although one of the Glasgow patients has now reportedly recovered.

Officials at Health Protection Scotland (HPS) said lab tests had confirmed both "clusters" involved the virulent 027 strain of the bug but were unrelated to each other.

Health bosses have written to all health boards reinforcing advice on how to control the bug.

Strict infection control procedures were being maintained at both hospitals to control the number of cases, said officials.

A spokesman for NHS Grampian said: "The infections were discovered on 23 April and the control team immediately put the patients into isolation. There have been no further cases but we are monitoring the situation."

NHS Clyde refused to comment.

But Anne Eastaway, consultant microbiologist at HPS, said: "These two clusters are unrelated and we are in regular contact with the infection control teams at both NHS Grampian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. We have previously seen a small number of isolated cases of this strain in Scotland."

She said a C difficile "reference laboratory" was recently established in Scotland. This helped identify more virulent strains including type 027, which might not be picked up otherwise, and helped understanding of the bug's characteristics.

C difficile is a bacterial problem present in three per cent of the population, which becomes harmful when people are suffering from other medical problems.