Probe after surge in C.diff superbug
THE number of cases of the deadly superbug C.diff has risen by almost 40% in Glasgow, figures show.
Infection control experts at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are investigating 121 cases from July to September.
The health board has attributed the surge to a significant rise in patients coming into hospital with the bug.
Figures show 78 of the 121 cases were patients who had acquired C.diff in the community – a 64% rise on the previous three months when 45 cases were recorded.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said infection control experts are investigating all 121 cases to identify any possible risk factors.
The figures show that hospital acquired cases have remained consistent over the past year, with 43 cases recorded over the past three months.
The Royal Infirmary had the highest number of patients (16) contracting the bug in hospital with 13 patients affected at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
Clostridium difficile, also known as C. difficile or C. diff, is a bacterium that can infect the bowel and cause diarrhoea.
The infection most commonly affects people who have recently been treated with antibiotics and can be serious in the elderly or patients with a weakened immune system.
In 2015 there were 48 deaths for which C.diff was the underlying cause, the second lowest figure since 2015. Cases acquired in hospital fell to their lowest recorded levels in 2014.
Leading bacteriologist Dr Hugh Pennington said the recent rise in Glasgow could be related to changes in antibiotic prescribing as infections most commonly occurs in people who have recently had a course.
Dr Hugh Pennington said: “An obvious possibility to investigate is changes in the pattern of antibiotic prescribing, although it is far from obvious why this should have happened, particularly be- cause of all the publicity about antibiotic resistance and the need to prescribe antibiotics less often.
“More efficient searching for C.diff and better record keeping might be playing a role.
“There has been an increase in C.diff cases in Scotland in the 15-64 age group since March 2015, but a decrease in the elderly.
“Health Protection Scotland is running a project to find the reasons behind the increase in younger patients.
“It doesn’t seem to be explicable by a change in the type of C.diff bacterium.”
Dr Teresa Inkster, Lead Infection Control Doctor and Consultant Microbiologist, said: “There has been an increase in the number of C difficile cases reported between July and September 2016 (121). From that number the largest rise has been in community acquired cases.
“We are investigating these cases to try to identify the reason for this increase and to enable us to target interventions. Risk factors for C difficile acquisition include the use of antibiotics and proton pump inhibitors (drugs used to treat indigestion) and these are the focus of our investigations.”
In 2014, NHSGGC was heavily criticised over “serious personal and systemic failures” following an inquiry into the country’s worst ever Clostridium difficile (C.diff) outbreak, which played a part in the deaths of 34 patients.