Articles | Patients warned of new superbug

Patients warned of new superbug

Published: Wednesday, 7 May 2008, 1:20PM

Hospital patients are being warned about a new drug resistant superbug which is sweeping through the wards.

The bug known as Steno, clings to catheters and ventiliation tubes and kills a third of the 1,000 or so patients who become infected every year.

Cases are on the increase and doctors studying the genetic code of the bug, commonly known as Steno, are worried about its ability to shrug off antibiotics.

Highly resistant strains of the bug are at least as hard to treat as MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C.diff).

Dr Matthew Avison, from the University of Bristol, said: "This is the latest in an ever-increasing list of antibiotic-resistant hospital superbugs.

"The degree of resistance it shows is very worrying. Strains are now emerging that are resistant to all available antibiotics, and so new drugs capable of combating these pan-resistant strains are currently in development."

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Clean and safe treatment in the NHS is a top priority for the Government.

"Stenotrophomonas does not cause infections in healthy people, but can cause infections in patients who are seriously ill with other conditions, especially lung problems.

"We have committed an investment of £270 million per year by 2010/11 to support infection prevention on top of the extra money that the NHS has already invested in better education and training, upgrading isolation facilities, new equipment and better surveillance.

"NHS staff have worked extremely hard to drive down the number of hospital-acquired infections and the Healthcare Commission is now inspecting each and every acute Trust against the Hygiene Code to ensure that all NHS organisations take appropriate precautions to protect patients."