THE number of patients who contracted the superbug clostridium difficile (C Difficile) whilst in hospital in Gwent fell to its lowest recorded level last year.

There were 101 cases of hospital-acquired C Difficile recorded by Aneurin Bevan University Health Board during 2015/16 (the year to March 31), a reduction of almost a third on the previous year.

This follows a similar reduction during 2014/15 and equates to an overall reduction during the past seven years of more than 80 per cent.

Only once during that period, in 2013/14, has there been an increase in healthcare-linked C Difficile cases in Gwent.

As expected, given that it is Gwent's biggest and busiest hospital, the Royal Gwent recorded the most cases of C Difficile in 2015/16. But it also recorded the biggest reduction on the previous year, down to 45 cases from 77.

Given how especially busy the Royal Gwent has been in recent months, this is a considerable achievement by the hospital's infection control and cleaning teams. One of the latter, the hydrogen peroxide vapour (HPV) cleaning team, has been been shortlisted in a category of the 2016 Association of Healthcare Cleaning Professionals (AHCP) Awards.

C Difficile cases fell from 35 in 2014/15 to 30 at Nevill Hall Hospital last year, and cases at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr and in community settings were also down.

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

It does not usually affect healthy people, but most commonly, problems occur in those who have had or are undergoing treatment with antibiotics, which can disrupt the natural balance of normal bacteria in the gut that would otherwise protect against C Difficile.

Regulating the use of certain types of antibiotics is a way of helping minimise C Difficile cases, and this is subject to regular audit in Gwent hospitals.

Hydrogen peroxide vapour cleaning of wards and other hospital areas is important too, as are concerted hygiene and cleaning practices generally.

* The number of cases of another superbug, MRSA (methyl-resistant staphylococcus aureus), that were recorded as being picked up in Gwent hospitals halved last year, to 10. All but two of these were At the Royal Gwent.