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A total of 17 people have been infected with Clostridium difficile at a hospital in Moray. NHS ...revealed on Wednesday that two elderly people with the C.diff infection had died. Two wards have been closed to new admissions but health officials said the patients were giving no cause for concern. The health board said the deaths happened in April and that both the patients had been frail.

Protecting Yourself From Nasty Superbugs: Suggestions From Mayo Clinic ScienceDaily (June 23, 2008) — Superbugs -- bacteria that are resistant to many commonly used antibiotics -- can seem scary. Antibiotic resistance means illnesses last longer, and the risk of complications and death increases. Many factors have contributed to the emergence of superbugs, including overuse and misuse of antibiotics. One superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), has been a problem in health care settings for years. In this environment, the bacteria is spread from one patient to another via the hands of care providers or by contaminated equipment. Increasingly, MRSA is appearing...

Hospital Superbugs Now In Nursing Homes And Community ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2007) — Hospital superbugs that can break down antibiotics are so widespread throughout Europe that doctors increasingly have to use the few remaining drugs that they reserve for emergencies. Now these hospital superbug strains have spread to nursing homes and into the community in Ireland, raising fears of wider antibiotic resistance, scientists heard 28 November 2007at the Federation of Infection Societies Conference 2007. Doctors collected 732 samples from 22 Irish hospitals over the last ten years and found that 61% of them, 448 samples, tested positive for bacteria that...

Superbug kills war hero who survived three years as a PoWLast updated at 00:42am on 1st September 2007  The family of a distinguished war veteran have criticised the hospital where he was infected by a killer bug. Major Sam Weller - who survived three years as a prisoner of war - died after catching Clostridium Difficile following an operation on his hip. His relatives said he had been let down by the country he fought for. Major Weller, 88, had surgery at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital but he developed an infection and was given a course of antibiotics. Weeks later...

Second superbug outbreak kills thirteen By Martin Beckford Last Updated: 11:38am BST 05/04/2007 Thirteen patients suffering from the superbug Clostridium difficile have died at another Norfolk hospital. It was revealed last week that an outbreak of the bug has killed 17 people at the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, near Great Yarmouth, since December. Now the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King’s Lynn, just 65 miles away, has said that 13 of its patients who had C.difficile have died since the start of the year. The bug, which causes severe diarrhoea, was directly responsible for eight of the deaths and...

Superbug death was 'diabolical' By Laura Donnelly and Jasper Copping, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 11:25pm BST 31/03/2007 The widow of a man who fell victim to a superbug that has claimed 17 lives at a Norfolk hospital yesterday described his death as "diabolical". Great-grandfather Leslie Burton-Pye, 74, was infected with Clostridium difficile in January while visiting the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston for a blood transfusion. He fell ill soon after and was admitted to the hospital where he stayed until released in mid-March. He was re-admitted last Sunday and died the next day. Yesterday, his widow, Mavis, 67, said:...

rp rise in suberbug death toll By Matthew Moore and PA Last Updated: 3:04pm GMT 22/02/2007 More patients are dying of conditions linked to the hospital superbugs MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C-diff), it was revealed today. Between 2004 and 2005, mention of MRSA on death certificates rose by 39 per cent while mention of C-diff rose 69 per cent, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The Conservatives today described the rise as "staggering", and said the Government had failed to put in place an effective strategy for combatting the bugs. "Labour's savage bed cuts over the...

Hospitals told to isolate patients with superbug By Beezy Marsh, Health Correspondent, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 12:27am GMT 19/11/2006 Hospitals have been ordered to create MRSA isolation wards where necessary to treat patients infected with the superbug. Under controversial Government plans, all elderly people admitted from nursing homes will be screened for MRSA and forced to use antibacterial shampoo, shower gels and creams as a precaution. Millions more patients scheduled for operations such as hip replacements and heart and brain surgery will also be checked for infection. According to the Department of Health guidance, those found to be infected should...

It begins as microscopic bacteria that invades the intestine with the potential to kill in extreme cases, or cause severe bouts of diarrhea in other instances. Probably a hundred cases have occurred in the past year in the Antelope Valley, though most of those stricken with Clostridium difficile survived, according to Dr. Michael Cohen, an infectious diseases specialist in Lancaster who tends to patients at Antelope Valley and Lancaster Community hospitals. "We've had cases at both hospitals," Cohen said. "Cases have been documented nationwide. At least three patients in Antelope Valley died." Deaths usually result from one of two conditions:...

TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey is among the states seeing an increase in deaths from an intestinal bacterial infection that most often strikes older hospital patients who have taken antibiotics. National occurrences are up as well because, officials say, an overuse of antibiotics for other ailments is killing off the "good" bacteria that used to control the growth of Clostridium difficile bacterium. In the Garden State, the number of deaths attributed to the infection has doubled since 1997. State hospital discharge data reviewed by The Record of Bergen County found the infection has sickened 10,000 New Jerseyans a year, killing...

Associated Press CHICAGO — Holiday revelers beware: Seasonal indulgences such as eggnog and fruitcake might give you heartburn, but the acid-fighting medicine you take for relief might lead to something worse, researchers say. People on popular prescription drugs for treating acid reflux — Prilosec, Prevacid and Nexium — seem more prone to getting a potentially dangerous diarrhea caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, new research shows. C-diff, as it's known, can cause severe diarrhea and crampy intestinal inflammation called colitis. Dr. Sandra Dial and colleagues at McGill University in Montreal examined data on more than 18,000 patients in the United...

Associated Press ATLANTA -- A deadly bacterial illness commonly seen in people on antibiotics appears to be growing more common — even in patients not taking such drugs, federal health officials warned today. The bacteria are Clostridium difficile, also known as C-diff. The germ is becoming a regular menace in hospitals and nursing homes, and last year it was blamed for 100 deaths over 18 months at a hospital in Quebec, Canada. Recent cases in four states show it is appearing more often in healthy people who have not been admitted to health-care facilities or even taken antibiotics, according to...

ATLANTA - A deadly bacterial illness commonly seen in people on antibiotics appears to be growing more common - even in patients not taking such drugs, federal health officials warned Thursday. The bacteria are Clostridium difficile, also known as C-diff. The germ is becoming a regular menace in hospitals and nursing homes, and last year it was blamed for 100 deaths over 18 months at a hospital in Quebec, Canada. Recent cases in four states show it is appearing more often in healthy people who have not been admitted to health-care facilities or even taken antibiotics, according to Centers for...