Seventeen patients at a Norfolk hospital have died in the past four months after contracting a super-bug, the hospital said today.
The James Paget University Hospital said the patients, most of them elderly, had "experienced complications" after contracting Clostridium Difficile (C diff), which had "contributed" to their deathsbetween December 1 2006 and Wednesday.
Dr. Alistair Lipp, director of public health at Great Yarmouth and Waveney Primary Care Trust, said the Health Protection Agency was being drafted in amid the outbreak.
A further 16 patients have been treated for the deadly bug at the hospital, which has been hit with a new and "particularly virulent" strain called 027.
Five have undergone major bowel surgery, while a further 11 currently have some form of the disease and are being treated.
Hospital bosses said they became "increasingly concerned" about a rise in the number of cases in December last year, and said the outbreak was now "causing major concern".
Eight new cases of C diff are being diagnosed at the hospital per week, compared to a usual average at Britain's hospitals of five.
Nick Coveney, director of nursing and patient services at James Paget, said in a statement: "We have traditionally had very low rates of C diff, but numbers are on the increase, reflecting the national trend.
"We have also had confirmation that we have a particularly virulent strain of C diff in the hospital and the wider community.
"As a result, a small number of patients with C diff have experienced more severe complications and illnesses."
C diff bacteria live in the gut of up to 8 per cent of healthy adults, and are triggered by the use of antibiotics.
Symptoms include diarrhoea, severe bowel inflammation, fever, nausea and abdominal pain.
The 027 strain, the most recent mutation of the bug, produces 20 times more toxin as other strains and is resistant to many antibiotics.
James Paget said it had appointed 15 extra cleaning staff and isolated affected patients to try to curb the spread of the disease.
It has also revised its antibiotic prescribing policy and appointed a new antibiotic pharmacist.
"This post is critical to managing MRSA and C diff effectively," added Coveney.
