MORE than 50,000 patients contracted one of the most serious hospital superbugs last year, a rise of more than 17 per cent on 2004, latest health figures reveal.

Experts from the Health Protection Agency, the public health watchdog, gave warning yesterday of increasing numbers of Clostridium difficile cases, including rarer infections in patients under the age of 65.

The HPA statistics, which showed annual totals of 51,690 cases for C. difficile and 7,087 for MRSA, followed the release of a damning report into superbug outbreaks at one hospital where 65 patients died.

The Healthcare Commission, the Government’s health inspectorate, said that a culture of poor hygiene and serious inaction by senior managers at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire was to blame for many of the deaths.

The commission revealed that a total of 33 people died as a result of two separate outbreaks of C. difficile at the hospital in the past three years. The deaths of a further eight people could also be traced to C. difficile, while complications linked to the bug claimed a further 24 lives.

The report detailed a catalogue of serious hygiene offences, including faeces on bed rails, patients’ clothes kept on the floor, soiled commodes and a shortage of nurses.

The HPA’s statistics offered further evidence of the failure of hospitals to address the problem of superbugs, most of which affect the elderly.

Peter Borriello, director of the HPA’s centre for infections, said that the 17.2 per cent rise in C. difficile cases could be attributed both to an increased number of cases and improved reporting. He added that more instances could well occur if stronger action was not taken.

In the past year 60 per cent of all trusts reported an increase in C. difficile cases. The data revealed a more positive picture for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), with the number of cases down slightly from 7,233 in 2004-05. However, it fell far short of government targets for a 50 per cent cut by 2008.

Significant decreases were seen in London, previously the worst-affected region, and Yorkshire and Humberside, but there was a slight increase in the North West. The figures also showed that 25 per cent of patients with MRSA had the disease on admission to hospital, 8 per cent of cases were in renal patients and 15 per cent were diagnosed while in intensive or high-dependency care.

While older people are particularly at risk from C. difficile, the figures showed a rise among younger age groups. A quarter of all cases occurred in those aged under 65.

Almost 30 per cent of the samples in 2005 were caused by a particularly virulent strain of the bug, known as type 027, which has been associated with several serious outbreaks, including those at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

In 2004 there were 2,247 deaths in which C. difficile was the underlying cause mentioned on death certificates in England and Wales and a further 1,168 deaths in which MRSA was mentioned, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Andy Burnham, the Health Minister, said that new powers meant that “improvement notices” could now be served on trusts that still failed to follow government guidelines on hospital infections.

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