Record levels of a deadly hospital superbug, Clostridium difficile (C.diff), are being reported in UK hospitals. The stomach superbug is spread by dirty hands and bedding; it can be killed with soap and water.

Over 15,500 people were infected with the bug between January and March 2007, a 22 percent increase from the previous three months. In the past year, 56,000 elderly patients caught C.diff.

Figures from the Health Protection Agency show the superbug rising at alarming levels. In 2005, 2,247 people died from C.diff infections, a 69 percent increase from 2004.

Further, in the early ‘90s slightly more than 1,000 patients contracted C.diff each year. Currently, more than 1,000 new cases are reported each week.

The actual figures may be even higher, experts say, as the numbers only account for people over 65, who contract 80 percent of C.diff infections.

Patients’ representatives and politicians said the government’s failure to stop rising C.diff infections was a “spectacular failure” and hospital hygiene was “sorely defective.” England’s senior doctor also recently said hospitals exhibited “unacceptably low levels” of hygiene.

C.diff exists naturally in the stomach, but is controlled by good bacteria. If the stomach’s balance of good and bad bacteria is disrupted, which can be happen from taking antibiotics, C.diff can multiply and produce toxins that cause diarrhea and an infection in the abdomen.

In all, there are 300,000 cases of hospital-acquired infections and at least 5,000 related deaths each year, according to the National Audit Office. Using these figures, one patient is infected every two minutes, and a person dies from a hospital-acquired infection every two hours.

Daily Mail July 25, 2007

Dr. Mercola’s Comment:

It is a sad testimony that a person being admitted to a hospital has to worry about acquiring -- and dying from -- an infection that can be easily prevented by the simple hygiene practice of keeping hands and bedding clean with soap and water. But it is now a reality.

In the United States, more than 100,000 people die every year because of hospital-acquired infections. This is despite the fact that nearly one-third of the $2.2 trillion spent in the United States each year for health care goes to hospitals.

Surely a good supply of soap and water, along with workers being required to keep their hands and surroundings clean, should fit into this budget. Of course, hospitals have access to soap and water. The challenge is making sure that health care workers use it.

Adding to the problem, antibacterial soaps are increasingly killing off both good and bad bacteria, allowing bad varieties to flourish and contributing to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bugs.

Meanwhile, patients in hospitals often take antibiotics, which kill off their natural good bacteria, and quite literally clear the way for disease-causing bacteria to flourish.

Taking probiotics (good bacteria) while you’re in the hospital may be a wise choice to keep healthy, as this has been shown to reduce antibiotic-associated diarrhea and the length of hospital stays.

Unless you are facing an acute medical emergency, your best chances of staying healthy are to stay out of hospitals as much as possible. To do this you must commit to following some basic health principles like:

• Eating the foods meant for your individual body
• Exercising on a regular basis
• Getting a good night’s sleep
• Keeping stress in your life under control
  

If you must visit a hospital, be very careful which one you choose. Hospitals are rated for quality of care, and you have a 69 percent greater risk of dying if you visit a one-star hospital as opposed to a five-star one.

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