The numbers of reported MRSA and C. difficile infections in England continue to fall, the latest quarterly figures from the Health Protection Agency show.
Between April and June 2009, there were 509 cases of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections reported in England.
This represents a 39.3% decrease from the same quarter of last year, when 839 cases were reported, and a 26.7% decrease from the previous quarter of January to March 2009, when 694 cases were reported.
It is the 13th consecutive fall in infections since the same quarter in 2006, when 1742 cases were reported.
The latest figures for Clostridium difficile infections show that there were 6855 cases reported in patients aged 2 years and over during the quarter.
This represents a 37% decrease from the same quarter last year, when 10,883 cases were reported, and an 18% decrease in reported cases from the previous quarter, when 8357 cases were reported.
In April to June 2007, 16, 864 cases were reported.
Dr Christine McCartney, executive director for the HPA’s Healthcare Associated Infection and Anti-Microbial Resistance Programme said: “The continued reductions in healthcare associated infections over the past year and in recent months show that infection control is still top of the agenda for the NHS, and tackling healthcare associated infections remain a priority for the NHS.
“These are impressive results but we cannot afford to become complacent. Health workers must continue to use effective infection control measures in order to drive down infections further,” she continued.
HPA quarterly figures
