Figures show rise in C. diff cases
Updated on 26 April 2007
Cases of Clostridium difficile infection reported in patients aged 65 years and over have gone up by 8% in a year, showing "scope for improvement", according to the Health Protection Agency's latest figures.
There were 55,681 cases of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection reported in patients aged 65 years and above in England in 2006. The Agency said this shows an annual increase in reported infections of 8% compared with 2005, when there were 51,767 cases reported.
Rates of infection remain high across England, it said, particularly in small acute trusts, "and the results show clearly the scope for improvement". But it added that this compares favourably with the 17% increase in reported cases between 2004 and 2005.
The latest MRSA bloodstream infection figures, also just released, show that there were 1,542 cases reported in England from October 2006 to December 2006, down 7% on the previous quarter (July 2006 to September 2006), when there were 1,652 reported cases of bloodstream infections caused by MRSA.
Dr Georgia Duckworth, head of the Agency's Healthcare Associated Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance Department, said: "Although the annual figures for Clostridium difficile infections indicate a slowing down, numbers are still very high. Figures for MRSA bloodstream infections have been showing a decrease."
Ms Duckworth added: "However, it is important that provisional figures like these are interpreted with caution, as numbers can fluctuate from quarter to quarter. Longer periods are needed to assess whether the trend in the number of infections is rising or falling."
C. diff causes diarrhoea ranging from mild cases to severe illness and can be fatal. Elderly patients who have been treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics are at greatest risk of infection.
Graham Tanner, chairman of the National Concern for Healthcare Infections, said as the C. diff figures relate to hospital patients aged over 65 years, a further 25% should be added to account for all patients with the infection. He added that as the Government is widening its database age range, the next set of surveillance will provide a truer picture of infection rates.
Figures released in February revealed deaths involving MRSA and C. diff have risen sharply in one year. Between 2004 and 2005, mention of MRSA on death certificates rose by 39% to 1,629 while mention of C difficile rose 69% to 3,807, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Political opponents condemned the figures, but the ONS and the Government said some of the rise was likely to be down to better reporting.
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