Clostridium difficile cases rise in 2006, HPA reveals
Cases of Clostridium difficile infection in patients over 65
years of age are increasing, figures
released last week by the Health Protection Agency indicate (see
Panel below).
Clostridium difficile 2006 figures: patients
65 and over
Quarter |
Cases |
January – March 2006 |
15,335 |
April – June 2006 |
14,694 |
July – September 2006 |
12,838 |
October – December 2006 |
12,814 |
• The Health Protection Agency reveals more cases of C
difficile in people over 65 years of age in 2006 than in 2005
• The HPA says it has observed in the past that counts tend to
be highest in the first quarter. Quarterly figures indicate a reduction
in cases reported throughout the year
|
The agency says that in 2006 there were 55,681 cases of C
difficile reported in England in this age group (a rate of 2.39 cases per 1,000
bed days),
corresponding to an 8 per cent rise compared with the 51,767 cases (a
rate of 2.22 cases per 1,000 bed days) in 2005. Infection rates were
highest in small acute trusts, the HPA says, a pattern seen consistently
each year since C difficile reporting was made mandatory in 2004.
The HPA also reveals that acute trusts saw a 7 per cent decrease in cases
of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia for
the period between October and December last year (1,542 cases) compared
with the July to September period (1,652 cases). The agency says that
rates of MRSA infection, while highest in acute teaching trusts, have
stabilised since the mandatory surveillance system was implemented in
April 2001.
Last month the Department of Health announced the introduction of a new
web-based system for reporting all cases of C difficile-associated diarrhoea
in patients over two years of age. The system, which is modelled on and
incorporates the MRSA enhanced surveillance scheme (MESS), will be known
in future as the health care-associated infection (HCAI) data capture
system. Less information will be required when reporting C difficile cases because the scale of reporting is larger than with MRSA, a letter
from the chief medical officer and the chief nursing officer specifies.
In March the Healthcare Commission unveiled plans to evolve its annual
health check of NHS organisations to include standards for tackling HCAIs,
the consultation for which ended on 20 April. The watchdog proposes that
progress on controlling C difficile infections should impact on NHS trusts’ performance
ratings. Healthcare Commission chief executive Anna Walker said last
week: “Trusts that are found to have breached significant requirements
of the hygiene code will be issued with improvement notices to ensure
that they take the appropriate remedial action.”
The HPA’s annual report on HCAI surveillance is due in October. |
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Pharmaceutical Journal
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