Eight more patients have died amid a hospital infection outbreak in Northern Ireland, it was announced today.
The number of people whose deaths have been linked to the C difficile infection in the Northern Trust area since late last year is now over 60.
However, the trust said of the eight deaths in July, seven were caused by an underlying medical condition and not specifically by the bug. Three of those patients died after their conditions relapsed while a further three had contracted the infection before they came into hospital.
The trust said the number of new cases of C diff infection in July was 19 - down four on the previous month and the lowest total in more than 12 months.
Dr Peter Flanagan, medical director at the trust, said that the use of powerful antibiotics to treat patients often had the unwanted side effect of increasing the rate of C diff infection.
Health minister Michael McGimpsey has committed £9 million to improve anti-infection measures in hospitals across Northern Ireland. He has also commissioned an independent review of the outbreak in Northern Trust area.
Meanwhile it was revealed the number of C diff cases in Belfast hospitals rose by more than 150 per cent last month. The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust said cases shot up from 22 in June to 58 in July - 47 of them among the most susceptible over-65 age group.
However, a spokeswoman for the Trust, which covers the Belfast City Hospital, Musgrave Park, Mater and Royal Group, said there were no known deaths attributed to the bug. Currently the hospitals have 28 patients suffering from C diff.
PA