New cleansing development to help fight superbugs

The Telegraph reports that in "the biggest trial of its kind the newly developed cleansing agent Byotrol has cut levels of MRSA on wards by one third compared with the NHS gold standard bleach."

A development to reduce MRSA significantly must be welcomed since "300,000 patients – one in 12 – contracts an infection in English hospitals every year."

Note: you can boost your immune system by eating healthy meals and avoiding salt and salty food.

21 NHS trust hospitals are failing to meet safe hygiene standards

We read in the Guardian that 21 NHS trusts have failed hygiene standards that determine whether they are safe to treat patients. Among these dirty hospitals are Barts in London, one of the oldest medical centres in Europe, Leeds teaching hospitals and Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool.

Britain's dirty hospitals have long been regarded as a national scandal and there are many people who fear ever having to go into one as a patient in case they become infected by any of the so-called superbugs. Many years ago the opposite was the case, and our hospitals were very clean indeed. I personally think that as well as exhorting staff, patients and patients' visitors to wash their hands more and to use the antiseptic hand-gels, that setting limits on hours of hospital visiting would help a lot, and being stricter about the number of visitors at a time per patient.

Patients should not to ask their GPs for antibiotics to treat coughs and colds, a Government campaign warns.

Patients should not ask GPs for antibiotics for colds and flu
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Diseases are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics and over-prescribing has been linked to the development of "superbugs" that fail to respond to treatment.

The Government's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, has launched a new campaign to drive down antibiotic use."

You can boost your immune system by cutting down on salt and salty food.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods

The fight against hospital superbugs in Scotland is being hampered by doctors not cleaning their hands properly, new NHS figures have suggested.

Fight against superbugs hampered by doctors failing to wash their hands
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"While nurses and other staff are heeding the message, doctors are still falling short of a target for compliance with hand hygiene rules.

Other statistics reveal that rates of Clostridium difficile and MRSA are falling, albeit at too slow a rate in the case of the former to meet official targets.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish health minister, welcomed the figures but Scottish Labour claimed a new 'superbug tsar' is needed to tackle the scourge.

The statistics were released after it was revealed police are interviewing nurses at Vale of Leven Hospital in Alexandria, Dunbartonshire, about a C. diff outbreak in which 18 people died.

They reveal that last November nurses complied with hand hygiene rules 95 per cent of the time, but for doctors the figure is only 84 per cent."

Doctors and nurses who do not wash their hands could be sacked under new "zero tolerance" rules to prevent the spread of superbugs.

Doctors and nurses to be sacked if they do not wash their hands
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The tough rules on hand hygiene will be applied to Scottish hospitals from January.

Those who repeatedly fail to comply with hand washing guidelines have been warned they could face disciplinary action when the new rules are implemented.

Ministers previously set a 90 per cent target for handwashing, to be met by February next year.

But they believe that target has already been achieved ahead of schedule and the health boards are being told to target the remaining ten per cent of staff who fail to keep their hands clean.

An aide to Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said it was "unacceptable" for medical staff to flout hygiene rules.

He said: "Hand hygiene is an important part of our drive to tackle healthcare associated infection. NHS Scotland has met the target to achieve at least 90 per cent compliance.

"We are now adopting a zero tolerance approach to non compliance and all Boards are expected to implement this policy from January 2009.""

I'll believe it if/when it happens! - Is this intended just for Scotland?

There is a long tradition of doctors harming their patients because of not washing their hands, e.g. many years ago many women died in childbirth because of doctors not washing their hands prior to examining patients and the women caught puerperal fever, which killed them. - See http://www.jameslindlibrary.org/trial_records/19th_Century/semmelweis/semmelweis_commentary.html

Seems like some really good news about reducing superbugs on hospital wards, by using copper fittings.

Copper fittings 'all but eliminate superbugs'
Article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"The study, funded by the copper industry, found copper fittings rapidly killed bugs such as MRSA and C difficile - bugs which claim thousands of lives a year.

Trials at Selly Oak hospital, in Birmingham, found copper taps and toilet seats helped significantly reduce the presence of the bug.

Copper is a common constituent in medicines including antiseptic and antifungal creams."

"Professor Tom Elliott, lead researcher and a consultant microbiologist at the hospital, said: "The findings of 90 to 95 per cent killing of those organisms, even after a busy day on a medical ward with items being touched by numerous people, is remarkable.

"I have been a consultant microbiologist for several decades. This is the first time I have seen anything like copper in terms of the effect it will have in the environment.

"It may well offer us another mechanism for trying to defeat the spread of infection.'"

Sometimes comparatively simple measures are the most effective, as may prove to be the case with this. The simple measure that I know about personally is that the simplest, most reliable, safest, fastest way to reduce excess weight is to cut down drastically on salt and salty food. You can read about it here:

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

A 'survival kit' for NHS patients to take into hospital to protect them from viruses like MRSA has been produced for consumers.

NHS survival kit goes on sale to protect against hospital bugs like MRSA
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The PatientPak contains wipes and sprays which kill MRSA, e-coli, norovirus, capylobactor, salmonella, listeria and even bird flu within 10 seconds.

The pack, which costs £15.99 and is available in high streets, includes anti-bacterial surface wipes, hand wipes, hair and body wash and a fabric spray for sanitising bedsheets and curtains.

The product has been launched amid growing concern amongst patients to protect themselves while in hospital.

PatientPak uses products containing Clinell, known for killing infections. However, the formula cannot kill C.diff - which can only be tackled with skin-toxic sporicide - but the pack contains soap and nail brushes to encourage people to clean hands."

Sounds a good idea.

Hospital wards across the country are being filled to potentially dangerous levels, increasing the risk of infections like MRSA, it has been warned.

Hospital superbugs: Full hospitals wards 'increasing MRSA risk'
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Official figures reveal that more than 95 per cent of beds at some hospitals across Britain were filled last year.

The national average, and recommended safe level, is 85 per cent.

Among the highest rates for Primary Care Trusts were at George Eliot Hospital Trust, in Warwickshire, where the bed occupancy rates was 97.8 per cent, and Bath and North East Somerset PCT, where it was 97.1 in the 12 months to April this year.

Experts warn that extra space is needed to deal with outbreaks of infection, such as the Norovirus, and that high levels of occupancy can lead to a rise in superbugs like MRSA."

More than a quarter of health trusts in England are failing to meet basic hygiene standards, official figures show today.

NHS trusts fail to meet hygiene standards
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The Healthcare Commission reports that no improvement has been made on a year ago.

In total, 103 out of 391 trusts admitted they did not achieve the minimum requirements, brought in by the Government to help combat the hospital superbugs, MRSA and Clostridium difficile.

Patients groups and politicians said that it was "shocking" that one in four still did not meet the standards, despite ministers' pledges to tackle cleanliness.

More than 8,000 deaths were related to MRSA and C. diff. The report shows that 26 per cent of trusts failed to keep facilities clean, did not have adequate infection control or follow guidelines on decontaminating reusable equipment.

Only 40 per cent of trusts claim to have met all the Governments standards, which include patient care and confidentiality as well as hygiene, a slight fall on last year."

Record numbers of patients are dying in hospitals and nursing homes after contracting superbugs, new figures show.

Superbugs MRSA and Clostridium difficile killing record numbers of patients

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"MRSA and Clostridium difficile were linked to more than 8,000 deaths in England and Wales in 2006, up from 5,300 the previous year.

The first ever breakdown of deaths from both infections by location released by the Office for National Statistics shows that the vast majority of patients died from the bugs in hospital.

The deadly infections also killed small numbers of patients in nursing homes and hospices."

"Worst ten hospitals for deaths from superbugs

Number of deaths from MRSA 2002 - 2006

Derriford Hospital, Plymouth 94

Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth 81

Maelor Hospital, Wrexham 79

Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton 77

Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton 75

General Infirmary, Leeds 70

Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge 68

Birmingham Heartlands Hospital 67

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital 65

General Hospital, Southampton 64

Number of deaths from C difficile 2002 - 2006

Royal United Hospital, Bath 268

George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton 235

Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry 233

Royal Infirmary, Leicester 203

General Hospital, Kettering 200

Birmingham Heartlands Hospital 177

General Hospital, Leicester 169

Frimley Park Hospital 164

Sunderland Royal Hospital 152

General Hospital, Southampton 149"

The number of deaths in Britain linked to the potentially deadly superbug Clostridium difficile has quadrupled in just five years.

Deaths from hospital superbug Clostridium Difficile quadruple

Extract from the Sunday Telegraph:

"More than 6,000 people died in 2006 after becoming infected with the gut infection in hospitals across England and Wales - a more than four-fold rise compared with 2001 figures, the Office of National Statistics will say.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths linked to MRSA rose by more than one third, with the infection mentioned on almost 1,700 death certificates in 2006.

The figures, due to be published on Thursday, follow an admission by the Department of Health's most senior experts in infection control that the main reason for a 50-fold increase in cases of Clostridium difficile in less than two decades is the failure of hospitals to follow hygiene rules drawn up 14 years ago."

Hospitals across the country are helping to fuel the rise of superbugs like MRSA and C Difficile by overprescribing antibiotics.

Hospital antibiotics 'fuelling superbugs'

Extract from the Telegraph:

"GPs are already being urged not to hand out the drugs for coughs and colds but many hospital doctors also overuse the medication, Prof Mark Wilcox, of Leeds University, said.

Prof Wilcox, an expert on the control of hospital acquired infections, will tell a conference on intensive care medicine in London next week that part of the problem is that the health service does not know what antibiotics hospitals prescribe."

The family of a 39-year-old mother has spoken out after she was admitted to hospital with an ear infection, then died after contracting MRSA.

MRSA kills mother in hospital with ear infection

First extract from the Telegraph:

"Shakuntala Pancholi, a civil servant, had developed the infection after routine surgery.

She was admitted to hospital but died from multi-organ failure 16 days later.

An inquest earlier this week ruled that she died of natural causes and yesterday her husband Suresh, 51, said: "She went into hospital with an ear infection, which is not life-threatening and then suddenly she is in a critical condition."

The inquest heard that Mrs Pancholi was admitted to Leicester Royal Infirmary in September 2004 suffering from an ear infection caught after an operation to repair a perforated eardrum.

MRSA was detected and she was given antibiotics. After a week she was sent home but her condition deteriorated and she was admitted to Leicester General Hospital, where she died four days later."

Second extract from the Telegraph:

"Last month the Countess of Chester Hospital Foundation Trust was hit by an outbreak of C-Diff only four days after undergoing a £300,000 clean up. At least 26 people were affected and wards were closed.

It emerged that hundreds of trusts are allowing doctors and nurses to treat patients even after they have tested positive for MRSA and other potentially lethal superbugs, with no systems in place to automatically remove staff from wards if they are found to be carrying an infection."

A superbug capable of killing previously healthy youngsters within 48 hours is on the rise in Britain's playgrounds

Playground superbug can kill children within days

Extract from the Telegraph:

"A superbug capable of killing previously healthy youngsters within 48 hours is on the rise in Britain's playgrounds, and has left at least 10 children fighting for their lives.

Cases of the bug, known as Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL), have more than doubled since 2005, official figures show.

Doctors are particularly concerned that many young people could have been exposed to the infection in their school playgrounds or in local parks.

Children are especially vulnerable to PVL, a member of the Staphylococcus aureas family of infections, and it can combine with MRSA, the deadly hospital superbug.

Once contracted, the infection acts quickly to kill off white blood cells, an essential part of the body's immune system.

The bug can also enter a patient's skeleton, where it becomes particularly hard to cure. Doctors often have to treat the disease by removing infected bone.

Cases of PVL combining with MRSA were first reported in America several years ago and are becoming increasingly common.

Doctors claim that the Government is not taking the threat of the bug seriously enough.

Mark Enright, professor of molecular epidemiology at Imperial College London, said: "This infection can kill healthy children in one to two days, but the authorities are continuing to treat MRSA as purely a hospital problem and trying to assuage public opinion."

Professor Richard Wise, a leading microbiologist, told a Sunday newspaper that he warned a Government health minister of the threat three years ago."

Infection rates in British hospitals are ten times higher than those in other countries

British hospitals 'worst for superbugs'

Extracts from the Sunday Telegraph:

"Infection rates in British hospitals are 10 times higher than those in other countries, according to a damning report.

The report, from a panel of government advisers, warns of "a fifty-fold increase since 1990", with one in five cases of the killer bug Clostridium difficile now affecting patients below the age of 65.

A leading infection expert, Prof Richard James, director of the Centre for Healthcare Associated Infections, said the figures meant Britain's death rate from the bug was likely to dwarf those of other countries. The unpublished report, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, urges hospitals to improve hygiene, testing and isolation procedures to slow the spread of the infection, which was caught by more than 50,000 people last year."

"A television programme tonight warns that C. difficile infection is becoming increasingly resistant to treatment.

• 'Panorama: How Safe is Your Hospital?', BBC1 10.20pm, Sunday April 27th."

You can improve your resistance to infection by eating less salt/sodium and salty food.

A new superbug, acinetobacter, is causing concern because of its high resistance to antibiotics.

Pandemic fear over resistant superbug

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"Doctors have warned that if a superbug which is known to be even more resistant to antibiotics than clostridium difficile and MRSA takes hold in hospitals, the country could face a pandemic.

The acinetobacter bug is being treated with older antibiotics because newer ones do not work. There are fears that injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have passed the infection on in civilian hospitals.

Prof Matthew Falagas, an expert in hospital-acquired infections, said: "In some cases, we have simply run out of treatments and we could be facing a pandemic with public health implications.""

"There are more than 1,000 reports of acinetobacter infections every year in the UK, according to the Health Protection Agency (HPA). Some strains can cause death through blood poisoning and pneumonia."

You can boost your immune system by cutting out salt and salty food.

Fear of hospital-acquired infections is driving NHS patients abroad for treatment

Superbug fear drives NHS patients abroad

Extract from the Evening Standard:

"Record numbers of Londoners are abandoning the NHS and travelling abroad for medical treatment.

About 22,000 people in the capital went overseas for surgery and dental treatment last year - a rise of nearly a quarter on 2006.

Fear over infection from superbugs is now a major reason for them opting to go private instead of receiving treatment on the NHS.

More than half of surgery patients said they were worried about contracting an infection such as MRSA in a British hospital. This comes a day after the Evening Standard revealed more than nine patients a week are dying from hospital acquired infections.

The findings are published today by research group Treatment Abroad from its international medical tourist survey.

Its report also highlights a growing lack of confidence in the NHS - nearly two thirds opted for overseas operations to avoid NHS waiting lists.

An estimated 100,000 people from Britain travelled abroad for surgery and dental treatment last year, including fertility treatment, knee operations and cosmetic surgery. This compares with 70,000 in 2006."

C diff deaths up by 72 per cent

Superbug deaths up by 72 per cent

Extract from the Telegraph:

"Deaths related to the hospital superbug Clostridium difficile have risen by almost three quarters, according to official figures.

The number of deaths involving the severe form of infectious diarrhoea rose by 72 per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

However, MRSA-related deaths have levelled out, the ONS said."

You can improve your health and resistance to infections by avoiding salt and salty food. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html

Dirty ambulances help to spread superbugs, claims Unison union

Dirty ambulances help spread superbugs, claims union

Extract from The Guardian:

"NHS ambulances could be helping to spread potentially deadly infections such as MRSA, a union said today.

Poor cleaning arrangements and a lack of resources are exacerbating the problem, a nationwide Unison survey found.

Experts warned there had been little progress since the issue was raised two years ago.

Unison officials called for "urgent action" and the removal of dirty ambulances from service for cleaning.

"Ambulance cleanliness is a key factor in the battle against healthcare-related infections and the standards laid down should be strictly applied and monitored," said Sam Oestreicher, Unison's national officer for ambulance staff.

"The guidance on ambulance infection control is comprehensive, but in practice the essential resources necessary to keep vehicles clean and infection-free are not being provided.

"In many trusts, ambulance crews are responsible for cleaning their own vehicles and this is a waste of their time and training.

"They should be out there saving lives, not mopping out the back of a dirty ambulance.""

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Information about another 'superbug' that may be killing hundreds of hospital patients

New 'superbug' may be killing hundreds

Extracts from Telegraph article:

"Pseudomonas is dangerous because it is especially virulent in intensive care units and has become increasingly resistant to treatment, says Professor Mark Enright, an authority on healthcare-acquired infections.

"Pseudomonas is a nightmare for hospitals - a real struggle," said Prof Enright, of Imperial College, London.

"It is not as common as MRSA or C diff, and not one of the most aggressive pathogens, but Pseudomonas is probably untreatable in a lot of cases.

"It ends up killing some people because it is so resistant to antibiotics."

"Although not officially classed as a superbug, Pseudomonas is usually found in specialist wards and can cause a wide range of illnesses, including meningitis, and can also lead to blindness or the loss of limbs.

It is a serious problem in patients whose immune systems are low, such as those in the late stages of cancer, cystic fibrosis, HIV, or suffering from severe burns.

In September, the paediatric intensive care unit at Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children was closed for 48 hours after Pseudomonas bacteria were found in five children.

In 2005, an outbreak at Guy's Hospital in London left one woman dead and infected 18 other patients who were receiving treatment in the urological surgery department.

Survivor Alfred Nell, 40, from Luton, believes that he developed blood poisoning after coming into contact with Pseudomonas through a contaminated microscope. He is now planning to sue the hospital for damages."

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.