The true scale of Britain's hospital superbug problems emerged yesterday as a leading hospital trust admitted that a "hypervirulent" infection had claimed the lives of at least 49 patients -- and possibly as many as 78 people -- in the space of nine months.
The superbug, Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) -- which can cause severe illness and death in patients who have undergone surgery -- appears to be at unprecedented levels. It has turned into a more virulent strain, ironically as a result of antibiotics commonly prescribed to fight other infections. The increase in cases is partly due to dirty wards, but also to a shortage of beds. The bacterium has also become more deadly because it has mutated genetically, becoming resistant to other treatments.
Three hospitals in the city of Leicester admitted on Saturday that the bug is likely to have caused 28 patients' deaths and contributed to another 21 since the beginning of this year. A further 29 suspicious cases have been referred to the coroner. One of the affected hospitals lies in the constituency of Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, who has tried to prioritize infection control within the tax-funded National Health Service (NHS).
It emerged last week that at least 20 patients are thought to have died during an outbreak in Kent earlier this year as a resilient strain of C. difficile spread across the country. The Healthcare Commission, the NHS's independent inspection body, is to hold an inquiry into the outbreak at Maidstone Hospital, where 136 patients were diagnosed with the infection over a three-month period.
According to the commission, C. difficile is the major infectious cause of diarrhea acquired in UK hospitals. It can also lead to fevers, severe inflammation and death in around 5 percent of cases. More than 51,000 patients in England were found to be carrying the infection last year.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia