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Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are not being contained in order to meet UK government’s targets, according to new figures published by the Health Protection Agency (HPA).
In the first three quarters of 2006, there were 42,625 cases of Clostridum difficile infection in patients aged 65 years or more in England. This constitutes an increase of 5.5% over the same period in 2005, where 40,390 cases were reported.
Latest MRSA bloodstream infection figures also show that there were 3,391 cases reported in England from April to September 2006, down 5.0% from the same period in 2005. Although this is the lowest level of MRSA incidence since HPA’s surveillance of hospitals started, experts consider this to be a plateau rather than a significant decrease.
