MRSA deaths fall fourth year in a row

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/aug/22/mrsa-death-falls-c-difficile

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The number of deaths from the hospital bugs MRSA and <em>Clostridium difficile</em> has fallen for a fourth successive year, according to figures.

The the Office of National Statistics said on Wednesday the number of patients in hospitals in England and Wales who died from MRSA fell by 25%, from 485 in 2010 to 364 in 2011.

There were 2,053 deaths related to the <em>C difficile</em> infection, compared with 2,704 the year before. The number of patients who died after contracting <em>C difficile</em> represented 1% of all hospital deaths between 2009 and 2011.

The health minister, Simon Burns, said: "We have a zero-tolerance approach to all hospital infections and we have taken the unprecedented step of publishing infection rates on a weekly basis to ensure there is absolute transparency.

"Every avoidable death is a tragedy. We must continue to do more to keep hospital infections at their lowest levels on record and ensure no patient dies because of MRSA."