Fears over deadly stomach bug outbreak
Doctors were last night desperately trying to contain a deadly stomach bug outbreak at a hospital that has claimed 19 lives in just three months.
Some 130 people at Maidstone Hospital in Kent have been struck down with Clostridium Difficile, a lethal infection which mainly affects elderly and vulnerable patients.
The alarming outbreak has led health officials to implement emergency measures in a bid to wipe out the bacterium, which thrives in filthy conditions.
Patient groups last night blamed NHS deficits and cost-cutting measures in hospitals for enabling the deadly bug to spread.
Some experts believe C. difficile poses a more serious threat to hospital patients than the superbug, MRSA.
Cases of C.difficile have rocketed nationwide from just over 1,000 in 1990 to more than 43,000 last year.
The number of deaths linked to the superbug more than doubled in five years, soaring from 975 in 1999 to 2,247 in 2004.
This rising toll of deaths has intensified concerns about cleanliness in hospitals and the levels of hygiene in the NHS.
It is estimated more than 100,000 individuals a year contract hospital acquired infections, costing the NHS £1billion.
In the past three years, a particularly virulent strain of C.difficile has caused havoc in hospitals.
Among the worst hit was Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, where 345 patients were infected and 12 have died since 2003.
This form of the bug also claimed 23 lives at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
The infection is most common in the elderly, but previous reports have shown one in 10 patients is under 65.
The bug is found in the colon and can cause severe diarrhoea, which in the worst cases can lead to perforation of the intestine. and a potentially fatal infection of the abdomen.
While the bug can usually be treated with antibiotics, it can be especially dangerous to the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.
The recent deaths at the Kent hospital have all occurred in the past three months.
The Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said five patients infected during the outbreak had C.difficile as the ''definite cause of death''.
A spokesman said the majority of these were over 80. A further 14 deaths were linked to the lethal infection, predominantly among elderly patients.
Health chiefs says patients affected have either been brought in with the symptoms or developed them while being treated for infections in hospital with antibiotics.
The new measures being adopted by managers include asking GPs not to send patients complaining of diarrhoea to hospital.
Managers are also changing their policy regarding antibiotics because some forms of this medicine kill off the protective bacteria that prevent the infection from spreading.
Nurses and doctors are being encouraged to wear gloves and take other hygiene measures while infection control teams are touring the wards daily.
The trust is also placing the mainly elderly patients who have symptoms of the bowel infection into side rooms or dedicated wards with their own separate nursing staff.
Bernard Place, the trust's director of infection, prevention and control, said : "The hospital has taken every precaution and action necessary to ensure that this infection is contained. This is part of a national picture of a rise in C . difficile infections.
"We have been working closely with the Health Protection Agency throughout and have stringent monitoring procedures in place."
Dr Mathi Chandrakumar, director of the Kent Health Protection Unit in Aylesford, said : "The unit has been working closely with the trust, which is taking all the appropriate infection control measures."
C.difficile poses a particular threat to hospitals because it produces hardy bacterial spores which are resistant to normal methods of cleaning and can persist on hands, clothes, bedding and furniture.
Last year a report warned that one in three NHS hospitals was flouting Government rules aimed at stopping the spread of C.difficile.
The report from the independent watchdog, the Healthcare Commission and the Health Protection Agency, said rising numbers of cases caused by the bug are closing wards yet most hospitals have no isolation facilities to prevent patients becoming infected.
Katherine Murphy, of The Patients Association, said yesterday: "This is very worrying but not that surprising given the scale of the deficits in trusts.
"When staff are being made redundant - including many infection control nurses who play key roles in hospitals - then infections will spread.
"These were 19 unnecessary deaths. Cost-cutting measures are compromising patient safety."
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