The number of patients with hospital superbug MRSA at a north Essex Trust has more than doubled in the past year.
New figures reveal the jump at Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust - which runs Colchester General Hospital and Essex County Hospital.
Between April 2004 and March 2005 the Trust had 37 cases of the killer bug compared with 16 the previous year.
That is an increase from 0.08 cases per 1,000 bed days to 0.18 cases.
For numbers of cases this year, almost one in four trusts saw cases rise and Essex Rivers is joint seventh from bottom compared with all trusts nationally.
Worst performing was Bradford Teaching Hospitals with an increase of 31 cases, and best was Guy's and St Thomas's in London, which saw the number of cases fall by 62.
More in today's Evening Gazette
Published Thursday, June 23, 2005
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