Injured soldier contracts superbug in British hospital

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Sergeant David 'Paddy' Caldwell, 32, was diagnosed with the superbug on a ward at a Birmingham hospital soon after returning from duty.

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The paratrooper was leading 5 Platoon of B Company in an assault on a Taliban compound when he was hit by machine gun fire.

After first being treated at a field hospital in Afghanistan, Sgt Caldwell was then transferred to the intensive care unit at Selly Oak's Royal Centre for Defence Medicine.

Most servicemen and women injured overseas are flown to this centre for treatment. Sources said that Sgt Caldwell had been at the hospital for a number of months before contracting MRSA, but he has since recovered from the infection.

Fellow soldiers from the 3rd Battalion of the British Regiment spoke of their dismay at the incident.

One colleague told the News of the World: "The doctors told him his recovery would take two or three years - but that didn't allow for MRSA. The lads are disgusted."

A spokeswoman from the Department of Health (DOH) said reports of MRSA were taken very seriously. "In the new Operating Framework, the Government has put aside £50 million of capital which Trusts can bid for to tackle MRSA.

"This means that £300,000 is available per Trust. This money can be used for improving washing facilities and building better toilets."

The DOH was unable to comment on Sgt Caldwell's condition.

The superbug MRSA, or Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, first appeared in the 1960s, and is particularly difficult to treat because it is resistant to antibiotics.

In 2004 former health secretary John Reid set a target of reducing MRSA bloodstream infections by half - from an annual rate of 7,684 cases to 3,842 by 2008.