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LONDON — The number of deaths linked to superbug Clostridium difficile jumped by more than a quarter last year to over 8,300, but there was a small fall in deaths associated with MRSA, official figures showed on Thursday.
The Department of Health said the rise in C. difficile deaths was due to better reporting, but the Conservatives said the government was to blame for failing to introduce effective isolation facilities at hospitals.
There were 8,324 death certificates in England and Wales mentioning C. difficile in 2007, compared to 6,480 the year before, the Office of National Statistics said.
In just under half of the reported cases, it was listed as the underlying cause of death.
The number of death certificates mentioning MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) was 3.5 per cent lower at 1,593, the first decline since ONS records began in 1993.
Department of Health microbiologist Brian Duerden said the rise in deaths linked to in C. difficile was due to improved reporting of superbug cases introduced across the NHS since 2005.
"We believe the rise in the number of C. difficile cases recorded as a contributing factor on death certificates does not represent a rise in actual deaths, but primarily an increase in awareness and reporting," he said.
But the Conservatives said the rise in reported deaths was tragic.
"The vast majority of these deaths could have been avoided if the government had only taken the right action at the right time," said Conservative Health Spokesman Andrew Lansley.
The C. difficile infection, first described in the 1930s, has been linked to an increasing number of deaths since 1999, when it appeared on 975 death certificates.
The government has had some success in reducing the incidence of both C. difficile and MRSA cases.
According to figures last month from the Health Protection Agency, an independent body, there were 9-per-cent fewer cases of C. difficile reported in patients aged 65 and over in 2007 compared with the previous year.
Cases of MRSA fell 30 per cent over the same period.
