C Difficile deaths up by 28%

The number of people dying who were suffering from C difficile has risen by 28% in England and Wales, new figures revealed today.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 8,324 death certificates mentioned the infection in 2007, compared with 6,480 the previous year.

In some of these cases the deaths may have been caused by other factors, but the patient was also infected with C diff.

The number of reported deaths involving the infection has more than doubled since 2005 when there were 3,757 mentions on death certificates.

Some of this may be due to more complete reporting on death certificates, the ONS said.

The number of death certificates that mentioned MRSA decreased from 1,652 in 2006 to 1,593 in 2007.

This is the first time the number of MRSA-related deaths has fallen since ONS records began in 1993.