Public Health : MRSA Survey’s Disturbing Hospital Findings

From Visit Bulgaria Health site :

" A study of eight of the county's hospitals found MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C diff) related bacteria in some of the wards, leading to a stark warning from a watchdog of the health industry, the failure of hospital staff to make hand hygiene a priority could lead to an outbreak of infection.

Reminding the hospital staff of the C diff outbreak at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, health experts reminded them of the 90 patients that died in three of its hospitals between 2004 and 2006.

While, infection rates appear to be falling countrywide, Kent and Medway Local Involvement Network (LINk) officials, who carried out the research, stressed the importance of keeping up hand hygiene standards.

Graham Hills, Operations Director of the organisation working to improve health and social care in Kent and Medway, said some of their findings were alarming. While, MRSA and C diff rates were dropping indicating, the hospital's message of using hand gels is having some impact, however, what it is concerning to find the inconsistency of use by staff and visitors.

Swabs taken from nurses' stations like computer keyboards, bathrooms and patients' bedsides around the hospital, revealed bacteria part of the MRSA and C diff bacteria groups. Seven of the 145 swabs taken i. e. four from computer keys, two from hot taps and one from unisex public toilets, showed up bacteria linked to MRSA."