Superbug battle goes on (From South Wales Argus)

Superbug battle goes on

4:40pm Friday 14th August 2009

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By Andy Rutherford - Health correspondent »

THE use of antibiotics in Gwent hospitals appears to be falling, and infection control experts hope a sustained reduction will prove a valuable weapon in the fight against the superbug Clostridium difficile.

Three antibiotics - cefuroxime, cefalexin and ciprofloxacin - are no longer recommended for general use following an increase in C difficile cases, and Gwent healthcare Trust infection control team is monitoring their use.

The C difficile bacteria exists naturally in the body, but some antibiotics, given to patients for a variety of reasons, can increase the risk of infection by the bug, by destroying or weakening 'good' bacteria that also exists naturally in the body and help fight it off.

Since February last year, use of the three antibiotics in Gwent hospitals shows "a definite downward trend" according to a report by Liz Waters, the trust's lead nurse for infection prevention and control.

By June this year, the average monthly reduction in the use of the drugs compared with average monthly usage prior to their restriction, ranged between 42-74 per cent.

Over the same period the use of co-amoxiclav, an alternative antibiotic, has not increase as much as expected.

"Hopefully, this indicates that the use of antibiotics in the trust has been reduced as a whole," said Mrs Waters in her report.

Reductions in the use of the three anitbiotics have been recorded across medical and surgical departments across Gwent.

Earlier this week, a report revealed that C difficile cases identified among over-65s in Gwent hospitals had risen by 75 per cent, to 691, since 2006. But for the first six months of 2009, recorded cases had fallen by a quarter, and the hope is that the reduction in use of the targeted antibiotics is contributing to this.

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