C difficile infections rise--but MRSA rates drop

doi:10.1136/bmj.39199.446331.DB

BMJ 2007;334:924 (5 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39199.446331.DB

News

C difficile infections rise—but MRSA rates drop

Michael Day

London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The number of infections of Clostridium difficile in the NHSin England rose again last year. Hospitals saw 55 681 casesamong patients aged over 65 years—up 8% on the 2005 figure,says the Health Protection Agency.

The latest figures come two months after it was revealed thatC difficile and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) had killed record numbers of patients in 2005. In thatyear C difficile was mentioned on 3807 death certificates—up69% on the 2004 figure, the Office for National Statistics said.MRSA was a factor in 1629 deaths, a rise of 39%.

The Health Protection Agency noted that the latest increasein the number of C difficile cases was smaller than the 17%jump seen in 2005. And there was also evidence of the tide turningagainst MRSA bacteraemia. A total of 1542 MRSA bloodstream infectionsfrom October to December 2006 represented a 7% fall . . . [Full text of this article]

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