How are we doing?

We are proud of our achievements in reducing MRSA blood stream infection and C.diff infection in the trust. Read about further information on MRSA blood stream infection and C.diff below:

What is a bacteraemia?

A bacteraemia is a medical term that describes when bacteria have been found in the bloodstream.

What is a blood stream infection?

A blood stream infection is a term used to describe when bacteria have entered the blood stream and are associated with symptoms of infection.

What do the figures below tell you?

The figures in the table show how many blood samples taken from patients were found to have MRSA bacteria present after 48 hours following admission.

What is MRSA?

MRSA stands for Meticillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Some S. aureus bacteria are more resistant. Those resistant to the antibiotic meticillin are termed meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and often require different types of antibiotic to treat them.

Further recommended reading:

www.hpa.org.uk
www.dh.gov.uk/en/index.htm
www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/

MRSA quarterly report

What is C. diff?

C.diff is an infection caused by the bacterium (germ) Clostridium difficile and is the most important cause of hospital–acquired diarrhoea.

Clostridium difficile can live in the gut of up to approximately 3% of healthy adults and 66% of infants and does not normally cause any problems, however some antibiotics can disturb the balance of the bacteria in the gut and Clostridium difficile can multiply leading to infection. People who have been treated with certain antibiotics, people with other serious illnesses and the elderly are more at risk of developing a C.diff. infection.

What do the figures below tell you?

The figures in the table below show how many stool samples acquired after 72 hours following admission were tested and found to have Clostridium difficile toxin present.

Further recommended reading:

www.hpa.org.uk
www.dh.gov.uk/en/index.htm
www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/

C.diff quarterly report

Policy TPP124/2 - currently under review