SIX OUTBREAKS of Clostridium difficile at hospitals across the State have been notified to the national Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) so far this year, it was confirmed yesterday.
The HPSC said five of the outbreaks were "pure Clostridium difficile outbreaks" and the sixth was a mixed outbreak of both Clostridium difficile and the winter vomiting bug.
Four of the outbreaks occurred in the former southern health board region, one occurred in the eastern region and another occurred in the former western health board area. The HPSC did not say which hospitals were affected.
The outbreaks in the southern region were notified to the HPSC in April, June and July.
The ones in the east and west were notified to the HPSC in September.
There were a total of 96 cases of illness associated with these outbreaks, the HPSC said.
The news comes a day after Beaumont Hospital in Dublin confirmed that a recent outbreak of Clostridium difficile at the hospital had caused the deaths of three patients and was a contributory factor in the deaths of a number of others.
It said 68 patients tested positive for the healthcare-associated infection between July 1st and October 31st. Of these 29 per cent died from all causes, not necessarily Clostridium difficile, during the four-month period, but the superbug would have been a factor in some of their deaths.
Half the cases which presented were of the virulent and highly transmissible 027 strain.
It is not clear if this is the outbreak in the east referred to in HPSC figures as outbreaks are often not notified until they have been brought under control, as the one at Beaumont now has.
Meanwhile, it was already known that there had been an outbreak of the superbug at University College Hospital Galway (UCHG) in January.
At that time 22 patients were affected and the hospital confirmed the bug had been a contributory factor in a number of patient deaths. Most of the patients affected had the 027 strain, which is associated with higher mortality.
This outbreak does not appear to be among the six outbreaks listed by the HPSC as the only outbreak in the west included in its figures occurred in September.
This is understood to relate to a different outbreak in the west, not at UCHG.
Clostridium difficile is a bug found in the intestines of 3 per cent of healthy adults.
It causes a diarrhoea-type infection in vulnerable patients already on antibiotic therapy for other conditions and can spread easily in overcrowded wards.
It is known from international studies that 25-30 per cent of people who have the infection can die with it, not necessarily from it.
The Mater and Tallaght hospitals in Dublin confirmed yesterday they had no outbreaks of Clostridium difficile in 2007 or 2008.