Coroner's Comments - superbug

Pat's Note:

We are no longer dealing with minor issues on the edge of livestock farming
run by a bunch of corrupt incompetent government veterinarians with a taste
for serious intimidation and cooking the books., supported by some very
dubious businessmen and minor farming functionaries

We are now in the mainstream of public concern. The public are about to
learn the meaning of zoonotic and zoonosis

When the State Veterinary Service hid up the state of Britain's pigs in
1999, they signed their ticket to disgrace, international investigation and
gaol.

May I remind you of the Country Land and Business Association's
representative's words:

Quote

This sort of thing isn't even new, the hospitals have been using full
body scanners for some years now to check for fat cover etc on breeding
sheep and pigs so that breeders can have the information without killing the
animal.

Unquote.

If he is right, which I doubt, there is going to be hell to pay.

If he is wrong, which I believe, there is still going to be hell to pay.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/27/ubug127.xml


Killer superbug 'could cause huge problems'

By Nick Britten

Last Updated: 7:07pm GMT 27/12/2006

A corner today warned of the dangers posed by the superbug C-diff after an
outbreak claimed the lives of 15 people in a two-month period.

Nine people have died from the bug at Queens Medical Centre

Incidents of the fatal bacteria have increased sharply and were a
contributory factor in all the deaths at four hospitals in the Midlands
within a 50 mile radius.

C-diff was linked to 12 deaths at the City Hospital and Queens Medical
Centre, both in Nottingham, whilst two people who died at the King's Mill
Hospital in Mansfield and an elderly woman who died at the Lincoln County
Hospital, Kathleen Fletcher, also contracted it.

Mrs Fletcher's family yesterday accused hospital managers of playing down
the seriousness of the bug and doing little to stop its spread.

Dr Nigel Chapman, the Nottinghamshire coroner, said that although the
Clostridium difficile bug was not the main cause of the Nottingham deaths,
it had been marked on their death certificates as a contributory factor.
Three were at the City Hospital whilst nine were at the QMC and all came
over a four week period in November and December.

He said: "It is on the death certificate and it was sufficient in my view to
note it. It is not necessarily the main cause of death, but it played a part
in some way.

"In the last year I only had one or two deaths reported where C-diff was
mentioned. In the last month, I have dealt with more than 12 cases.

"If I had to hold inquests into all of these cases I could not deal with it.
Imagine if this is a national trend, C-diff could be becoming a huge
problem."

Dr Chapman said he planned to hold inquests for two of the 14 cases, while
the rest are being treated as death by natural causes.

He added: "Whether (the increase in reports) is because the doctors are
reporting it more, or finding it more, my point is I am trying to raise the
awareness that this is not something small scale."

Recent figures for the QMC and Nottingham City Hospital showed 509 patients
contracted C-diff in 2005, compared with 345 in 2004. One of those who died
was George Warren, 86, whose ward was later closed down.

Mr Warren, who had heart disease and chronic obstructed airways disease, was
admitted to Ward C54 at the Queens Medical Centre with chest pains in
November, and died a few days after contracting C-Diff.
His son, Russell Warren, from Beeston Rylands, Notts, said: "He was a good
father. It is sad for me but these things happen."

Nationally 2,247 died after contracting it in 2004, compared with the 1,168
who died after contracting MRSA. Other C-diff-related deaths have been
reported recently in Liverpool and Bristol.

Last month, three QMC wards were closed to admissions after suspected
outbreaks of C-diff and the winter vomiting bug, which have similar symptoms
of severe diarrhoea. This evening a spokesman for Nottingham University
Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, said: "We have closed three
wards to new admissions as a measure to control the spread of suspected
winter vomiting and C-Diff.

"Infection prevention and control is one of our main priorities, and every
effort will be made to reopen the wards as soon as it is appropriate."

The wards were closed four days after Lincoln County Hospital shut down five
wards to emergency admissions in the face of a similar outbreak. Three have
since reopened and around 10 people are thought to have been affected,
including 81-year-old Mrs Fletcher, who died last Thursday from a
combination of C-diff, pneumonia and deep vein thrombosis. Her son, Bryan
Booth, 63, said: "It makes me angry that she caught this in the hospital and
also that they never told us how serious it was or how easily it could
spread.

"All the time she had it we were kissing her and holding her hands and going
in and out of her ward as we liked. No-one told us this bug was around."
Mrs Fletcher, from Lincoln, was admitted to hospital with a severe bladder
infection six weeks ago and had appeared to be making a recovery. Mr Booth,
from North Greetwell, Lincs, added: "Last month she caught pneumonia, which
set her back, but we thought she was recovering from that, too.

"She was almost ready to go home. The doctors said she would be fine. Then I
got a call to say she had a bowel infection and had contracted C-Diff.

"I had never heard of it before, but I went on to the internet and
researched it and realised that she must have caught it in the hospital.

"Then they called to say she had also been diagnosed with deep vein
thrombosis from being in bed so much. She just deteriorated from there.
"It came as a huge shock, because we thought she was getting better. It
worries me that the hospital is only telling people about the bug now."

The hospital, one of only two major hospitals in Lincolnshire, refused to
comment on Mrs Fletcher's death but said the outbreak had been contained.
Sue Glaister, Director of nursing, said: "We have a number of cases of the
usual winter bug and also have some cases of Clostridium difficile.

"But we now have the bug contained. We have only two wards closed to new
patients because of the bug, and we will review that situation."

Dr Keith Neal, consultant with the Health Protection Agency in the East
Midlands, urged people not to panic. He said there were various explanations
for the rise, including that more was known about C-diff.
He said: "There is no doubt there has been an increase in C-Diff here and
nationally, but I wonder whether that is down to more publicity of C-Diff.
More people will be looking out for it and therefore recording it on the
death certificates."

The Government recently announced a £50 million fund to help hospitals to
combat C-diff, which kills three times as many as the better-known MRSA. It
is often spread on the hands of healthcare staff and other people who come
into contact with infected patients or contaminated surfaces such as floors,
bedpans and toilets.


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Regards
Pat Gardiner
www.go-self-sufficient.com


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