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The number of people dying from a deadly hospital-acquired superbug has fallen for the first time since records began 10 years ago.
New figures show a 29 per cent drop - to 5,931 - in the number of death certificates mentioning Clostridium difficile between 2007 and last year.
Deaths from another superbug, MRSA, have also fallen for the second consecutive year. The chief nursing officer Christine Beasley said: "Preventing healthcare-associated infections continues to be a top priority for the Government. Whilst one avoidable infection is one too many, today's figures show we are seeing significant reductions in cases." Records of deaths caused by C.diff began in 1999 and this is the first time the numbers have fallen since then.
Today's Office for National Statistics figures show last year C.diff was mentioned on 5,931 death certificates. In the previous year the figure was 8,324. The number of death certificates mentioning MRSA fell by 23 per cent to 1,230.
Between 2004 and 2008, C.diff was involved in one per 1,000 deaths in England and Wales and MRSA in three per 1,000 deaths.
Conservative shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Despite the welcome decrease, there are still an appalling number of people dying from hospital infections in this country - nearly three times as many as are killed on the roads every year. These statistics expose Labour's failure. Many hospitals still lack basic facilities to isolate patients who have an infection."
News of the drop comes after a warning over a new antibiotic-resistant superbug that has been seen in some hospitals. It has been found in people returning from surgery abroad.
The bacterium, known as enterobacteriaceae, is resistant to normal hospital drugs and is harder to treat than other superbugs. The Health Protection Agency alerted doctors last week to the "notable public health risk" after 17 hospitals confirmed treating cases.
Today's figures reveal the drop in C.diff deaths was greater among women. Deaths involving the bug fell by 27 per cent for men and 30 per cent for women between 2007 and 2008.
For MRSA, there was a 31 per cent fall among men and a 13 per cent drop for women. Older people were more likely to die from the superbugs than younger age groups.
Barts and the London and the Royal Free hospitals are testing a new type of super-strength cleaning fluid and air cleansing machine. If successful these will be rolled out across the rest of the capital and Britain.
Reader views (3)
More abject spin and waffle from the ONS - with AT LEAST 6,000 peeps dying through infections in our hospitals in the past year.
It is not surprising that the muppets in Whitehall announced today that they were preparing for mass burials!
- Reuben Camara, Principality of Morecambe, EUSSR
"The number of death certificates mentioning Clostridium difficile" dropped between 2007 and last year. er, what are they attributing death to, the Grim Reaper? A day after we were told coroners were not seeking tests for varianr CJD we now have this. Makes you wonder!!!!!
- Alan, carlisle uk
Hooray! Only 7000 odd deaths due to negligence and bad practice ... where's Mandelson to tell us what great news this is?
- Paul, London
