Sir John warned that “flouting of NHS hygiene was as bad as drink-driving’” and twice as deadly. Doctors and nurses who fail to wash their hands although they know it reduces hospital infections are as bad as drunk drivers, the NHS adviser warned yesterday.

The Health Direct Blog started over three years ago at the beginning of October 2004 when I became worried about the scandalous rise of MRSA in the NHS system. Which is a totally preventable and avoidable infection.

October 07, 2004 Twice as many people die of superbugs in dirty hospitals than die on British roads- The labour government seems to be surprisingly reticent in publicising the fact that twice as many people die in the UK from picking up lethal “superbugs” in dirty hospitals as die on the country’s roads.

Now three years later after the latest outbreak of a “superbug” in three hospitals in Leicester, despite NHS efforts to eradicate them, hospital- acquired infections are not going to go away.

At least 49 – possibly as many as 78 – patients were killed by the bacterium Clostridium difficile (C difficile) in Leicester and it is thought that it killed at least 20 patients at hospitals in Kent earlier this year.

Judy Potter, who chairs the Infection Control Nurses Association (Icna) said “In the last year or so we have seen a more virulent strain of C difficile that seems to cause the more severe symptoms. Antibiotics often cause the balance of friendly bacteria in the bowel to be reduced, predisposing patients to Clostridium difficile infection.”

Until now, MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) was considered the biggest superbug danger in hospitals – instances have risen by 600% in the past decade and it was cited on 1,623 death certificates in 2004 as the contributing or underlying cause of death.

However, C difficile is now thought to be a greater danger. In 1999, it was mentioned on 975 death certificates; in 2004, that had risen to 2,247, though not all these infections would have been picked up in hospital.

Experts say that hands should be thoroughly washed with soap and water, surfaces should be washed with bleach and wards steam-cleaned.

Hospitals should also find space to set up isolation wards for those affected. “There are some general measures that are recommended to protect patients against infection generally when coming into hospital,” says Potter. “They are mainly about common sense and good hygiene.”

More information on MRSA and C difficile infections can be found at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1887742,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1931589,00.html