Hospital bug deaths not recorded

EVEN though there have been more than 600 cases of the superbug C-diff recorded in Ireland in just the past two months, health officials have confirmed they are not recording the numbers of people dying from illnesses relating to the condition.

In the north, health officials were able to say eight people died of C-diff related illnesses in one region in July alone.

Figures published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) show that up to 90 patients are being diagnosed every week with Clostridium difficile in the Republic.

Yesterday, an inquest heard a man died of an aggressive form of the C-diff at Tallaght hospital but, when asked, neither the HPSC nor the HSE were able to say how many patients have died of illnesses related to C-diff since the Department of Health decided it should be notifiable under the category of Acute Infectious Gastroenteritis (AIG) from May 4, 2008. Since then, all medical practitioners or clinical directors of diagnostic laboratories have been notifying all cases of C-diff to the relevant department of public health.

HPSC has then recorded weekly tallies. The last tally, for the week from July 13-19, showed there had been 52 cases of C-diff recorded, including 16 in the HSE eastern region and 12 in the HSE southern region. In the previous week, there were 94 cases. Clostridium difficile is the most common cause of diarrhoea following antibiotic therapy.

A small proportion, less than one in 20, of the healthy adult population carry a small amount of C-diff in their bowel, but it is kept in check by the “good” bacterial population of the intestine. Most infections happen in hospitals and nursing homes, but it can also occur in the community. In most cases it causes relatively mild illness.

Occasionally it may result in serious illness and even death in elderly patients or those with underlying illnesses, like cancer. The HSE said of the superbug: “National guidelines for surveillance, including case definitions, prevention and control of C difficile infections have been developed by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre. These address all aspects of management of this disease including surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, management of C-diff and prevention and control of C-diff.”

It also said the HSE had established a National Health Care Associated Infection Governance Committee chaired by Dr Pat Doorley which aimed to:

Reduce Health Care Associated Infections (including C-diff) by 20%.

Reduce MRSA infections by 30%.

Reduce antibiotic consumption by 20% .