 CASES of the deadly superbug C difficile have risen dramatically in many Merseyside hospitals according to figures released last night, with several trusts seeing their highest figures since records began. But the NHS seems to be coping better with MRSA, which has seen significant drops in infection rates. Health Protection Agency (HPA) figures for the first three months of this year show the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen hospitals had an unprecedented 195 cases of C Diff, a 58% increase on the 124 people diagnosed for the same period in 2006. Wirral Hospitals’ cases rose by 80% in the past three months to 178, also well up on last year’s figure for the same period of 125, while North Cheshire’s 124 is almost double that of the same period last year. All three figures are the highest for each trust since full HPA records began in January 2004 and relate to over-65s who are by far the worst affected group. St Helens Hospital Trust saw its worst figures since June 2004, with over 80 cases and The Countess of Chester hospital’s numbers more than doubled in the last three months, although figures are down year on year. Rare bright spots came at Aintree Hospital where cases dropped slightly but have still doubled since September 2006 and at Southport and Ormskirk hospitals cases were are also slightly down. Nationally figures for the superbug, which has the full name Clostridium difficile, have gone up by 22% in the three months and the HPA says the increase could be because of an increase in reporting the bug. Figures for the best known “superbug”, MRSA, are more positive with most hospitals seeing a significant drop from October 2006 to March 2007 and nationally cases have dropped by 10% in a year. The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Trust saw cases drop by over 30% over six months from 42 to 29 and Aintree trust’s cases dropped from 23 to 17. In St Helens Hospital cases dropped from 22 to eight and in Wirral cases have more than halved in a year. Hazel Holmes, director of Infection Prevention and Control at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen said work to tackle C diff and other hospital acquired infections would continue. She said: “Tackling C diff remains a high priority. However, this presents different challenges as it tends to affect people who have been treated with broad spectrum antibiotics.” But she added the trust had done a great deal of work to reduce MRSA rates throughout its hospitals: “The figures released today show that our work around MRSA is having good outcomes. “We have reduced the rate consistently since 2001 and now only have around 1.5 cases per 10,000 bed days. “We will be investing a further £1m on reducing hospital-acquired infections over the next five years which will help to bring about even greater reductions in the number of cases.” But Liverpool businessman John Mason who believes his mother Mary died after contracting both superbugs in November 2004, thinks the figures have been manipulated. Mrs Mason died in the Royal Liverpool University Hospital 12 weeks after she was admitted for a routine hip operation. The 68-year-old grandmother was tested for MRSA when she was transferred to Broadgreen. The swab tested positive and she died a month later, although it is still unclear whether Mrs Mason contracted the infection inside either hospital. Mr Mason, who is currently lodging legal proceedings said: “You have got to ask what the figures are based on. “C diff has always been significant but now it has been brought into the public eye figures are going up. “I think this is so the Government can turn around in two years time and claim the problem has been sorted when figures reduce. Drastic action against the people in charge of these organisations needs to be taken to really reduce numbers of both bugs.”
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