UK Hospital bug deaths on the rise• The number of deaths linked to the hospital bug Clostridium difficile has outstripped those due to MRSA, latest figures show.

• Clostridium difficile is a bacterium found in the gut of up to 3% of healthy adults and 66% of infants, where it rarely causes problems.

• Clostridium difficile can cause illness when its growth goes unchecked.

• Treatment with certain antibiotics can disturb the balance of “normal” bacteria in the gut, allowing C. difficile to thrive. [this is why it is important to use a probiotic for good gut bacteria, I take Life 5]

• Efforts to combat MRSA, such as alcohol hand-rubs, have had no impact on C. difficile. [please avoid using the antibacterial and sanitizing soaps as they are ineffective and WILL create a more powerful strain of superbug. Consider using therapeutic-grade essential oils, their complex structure will not create superbugs. The entire "Product Line" can be found at my website]

• Most of the deaths from both C. difficile and MRSA were in the older age groups.• Deaths involving Clostridium difficile rose by 69% to 3,800 from 2004-05 (in the UK), the Office for National Statistics said. Deaths involving Clostridium difficile rose by 69% to 3,800 from 2004-05.

• Clostridium difficile forms spores which means it can survive for long periods in the environment, such as on floors and around toilets, and spread in the air.

• Rigorous cleaning with warm water and detergent is the most effective means of removing spores from the contaminated environment and the hands of staff, say experts.

Head of health at Unison, Karen Jennings, said: “These shocking figures show that MRSA and C. difficile have a deadly grip on our NHS. We need to wage war on these superbugs and cleaning and cleaners should be on the front line as an integral part of the infection control team. No one wants to be treated in a dirty hospital but sadly the culture of cleaning was sold off at the same time as compulsory competitive tendering was brought in. It’s time for hospitals to set safe minimum staffing levels for their cleaning services - patients and staff deserve nothing less.”

A spokeswoman for the Patients Association said: “Our worry is that these figures will continue to rise as other priorities take precedence. The government promised to make infection control one of its top priorities. Yet its own announcement to further reduce waiting times by ’round the clock operations’ will inevitably harm these efforts.”

The Patients Association found that fewer than half of doctors are routinely using hand gels despite MRSA guidelines advising them to do so. The Association found that only 47% of doctors - 31% in London - always used hand gels.

Hand hygiene

The Patients Association’s director of communications Katherine Murphy said: “Hand hygiene is essential to control infection in a hospital but again our report show that there is a low compliance among doctors.”Simon Gillespie, of the Healthcare Commission watchdog, said: “Hospitals really must do more to reassure patients that they are doing everything possible to prevent infections from occurring in the first place.”

And Tony Field, of MRSA Support, added: “It is reprehensible hospitals are not doing more. If we make inroads into MRSA we will also make inroads into other hospital infections.” He also said wearing mask was as important as hand-washing.[read about pure narural soaps containing essential oils and Thieves Wateless Hand Sanitizer for excellent options to help you stay well]

A European comparison in 2002 showed levels of MRSA bloodstream infections in Scandinavian countries were around 2%, compared to 44% in the UK.

Research has shown up to 8% of hospital patients are carriers of MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), compared to just over 1% who are infected while they are in hospital.Identifying these patients would mean they could be isolated, and would not pass on their infection to other patients.

The government is currently backing a trial of a PCR test which can detect two MRSA genes, and provides results within a couple of hours. It is already used in many European countries and in the US.But the test developed by the Nottingham team scans for 84 MRSA genes, so it can also show if a patient has MSSA (methicillin sensitive staphylococcus aureus) and the community-acquired strain of the bug - which has been spreading among healthy people.

It can also spot if someone has the Panton-Valentine leukocidi (PVL) form of MRSA, which killed a nurse and a patient at a west UK Midlands hospital in December and also infected six other people.

Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) form of MRSA

[photo: PVL is expressed in Staphylococcus aureus (shown x 50,000)]

Existing checks can take up to four weeks to confirm if a patient has the PVL form of MRSA.Panton Valentine leukocidin (PVL) strains of community acquired MRSA can cause a particularly lethal disease called necrotizing pneumonia.

They are extremely aggressive and to make matters worse they also spread rapidly from person to person.

Last month the UK had its first documented serious outbreak. A nurse and a patient at a west Midlands hospital died from the PVL form of MRSA, which also infected six other people.

A new study in Science shows just how formidable the bug can be, causing severe pneumonia, inflammation and tissue damag

e‘Community superbug tests’ needed

Rapid tests for deadly superbugs that are spreading in the community are urgently needed, an expert is warning.

Professor Richard James of the Centre for Healthcare Associated Infections at Nottingham University says Britain is vulnerable to the types of MRSA.

The toxin-producing strains, known as PVL, are spread outside of hospitals via skin-to-skin contact and appear as sores which look like insect bites.

Existing tests take more than two weeks, yet the bug can kill in a day.

Until recently, MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) has been a problem within hospitals, affecting mainly the frail and elderly.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is escaping hospital wards to cause severe disease among otherwise healthy people in the wider community, particularly in the US, but also in the UK.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, community associated MRSA accounts for 12% of MRSA cases.

Early detectionProfessor James said: “The results of this work highlight the urgent requirement for tests that can distinguish hospital acquired MRSA from community acquired MRSA. At the moment we have no screening for community acquired MRSA in the community, and no rapid detection of PVL and other toxins in hospital strains of S. aureus in the UK.”

Although PVL MRSA is resistant to common antibiotics, other antibiotics are available to treat it, particularly when diagnosed early.

[for example: in this study the essential oil of cinnamon was used in conjunction with an antibiotic and created a synergetic response and the results signify that low concentrations of trans-cinnamaldehyde elevate the antimicrobial action of clindamycin, suggesting a possible clinical benefit for utilizing these natural products for combination therapy against C. difficile.]

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Professor James explained: “It is important to treat the patient with antibiotics that block expression of the PVL toxin as quickly as possible in order to reduce the lung damage.”Dr Mark Enright, an expert in molecular epidemiology at Imperial College, warned: “PVL strains of MRSA are emerging as a major threat to healthy people of all ages around the world.”