CASES of the superbug clostridium difficile (C Difficile) in Gwent hospitals during April to August were down 38 per cent on the same period last year.

In that five-month period in 2014, there were 60 cases of C Diff that were identified as having been healthcare acquired, or picked up in hospital. But there were just 37 cases in that same period this year.

That will be good news for infection control experts at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, who have played a leading role in helping drive down cases of this and other superbugs and infections, in Gwent and further afield as part of an ongoing, NHS-wide battle.

The volatile nature of C Diff, and the never-ending fight to minimise its influence in increasingly busy hospitals, means that the threat of an increase in cases is never far away, and infection control measures and the methods of their implementation are kept continuously under review.

Spring and summer tends to see fewer cases, but these latest Gwent figures are nevertheless very encouraging, and all the more so given that there has been a significant reduction in cases at the Royal Gwent, which as the area's biggest hospital traditionally has the most cases.

Last year, healthcare acquired C Diff cases in Gwent fell to the lowest recorded level at 149, down from 233 during 2013/14.

The latter figure represented a slight rise in such cases, though the trend in the area's hospitals has been very much downward in recent years. Seven years ago (2008/09) there were 597 cases.

The number of cases recorded for July and August this year - two and five respectively - were the smallest monthly figures recorded in Gwent.

C Difficile is a bacterial infection that can affect the digestive system, and which in some cases can be life threatening. It can survive for weeks and months on surfaces.

Healthy people are not usually affected, C Diff most commonly cropping up among patients who have had or are undergoing treatment with antibiotics. These can disturb the natural balance of normal bacteria in the gut that would otherwise protect against the superbug.

The use of certain types of antibiotic are regulated to try to minimise C Difficile cases, and strict hygiene and cleaning practices are key too, with hydrogen peroxide vapour cleaning of wards and other hospital areas proving a valuable weapon in recent years.

* Deaths in Wales from C Diff fell by more than a third during 2014, to 111 from 177 the previous year. This was the lowest figure in almost a decade.

More than 95 per cent of these deaths occurred in hospitals, with patients either having already picked up the infection prior to admission, or having contracted it during their stay.