Rates of hospital super bugs falls

Pregnant women going in to hospital to give birth can be reassured that the number of cases of  killer super bugs has dropped.

Annual figures published by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) on MRSA (meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) bloodstream infections dropped by 35 per cent between April 2009 and March 2010 from 2,935 to 1,898.

Rates of C. difficile (Clostridium difficile) infections for England and Wales fell by 29 per cent from 36,095 cases to 25,604.
 
Executive Lead for the HPA Healthcare Associated and Antimicrobial Resistance programme, Dr Christine McCartney warned that despite the ‘significant reductions’ in the infections, health care professionals and members of the public should continue to remain vigilant to their dangers.
 
She said:“This year we have again observed an impressive reduction in the total number of both MRSA and C. difficile infections and this is a credit to the hard work of our colleagues in the NHS which continues to strengthen good practice in infection control measures. 

 “Importantly, almost half of MRSA and C. difficile infections are being bought into hospitals, whether that be from another hospital or from the community. This re-enforces the need to practice common sense infection control and good hygiene measures at all times and not just when visiting friends and family in hospital.”