Wikinews

Britain's deadly bug possibly imported from U.S. or Canada

There are no reviewed versions of this page, so it may not have been checked for adherence to standards.

Wednesday, June 8, 2005

A hardy new strain of a deadly bacteria that has killed 12 elderly patients and infected 300 others in a British hospital may have been imported from either the United States or Canada.

The new variant of clostridium difficile, which causes severe diarrhea, broke out 18 months ago at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, and it's speculated that the bacteria might have been brought in by either an American or Canadian patient to the hospital's famed spinal-injuries unit. [1]

Initial investigation by Britain's Health Protection Agency indicates that the new strain is similar to one circulating in the United States and Canada. [2]

The spore-forming bacteria thrives in the intestines when the normal balance of bacteria shifts --- something that can happen after a dose of antibiotics --- and toxins are then produced, which can cause extreme diarrhea.

This new strain of clostridium is particularly resilient and has even shown resistance to certain disinfectants. It spreads by contact and can survive up to 70 days, living on hospital floors and toilet seats. [3]

Share this:  E-mail this story Share on Facebook Share on reddit.com Share on LinkedIn.com Share on twitter.com


Sources

edit
 

Share this:           


References

edit
  The text of this article has been released into the public domain. In the event that this is not legally possible, this article may be used for any purpose, without any condition, unless such conditions are required by law. This applies worldwide. Copyright terms on images, however, may vary, so please check individual image pages prior to duplication.
Please note that this only applies to Wikinews content created prior to September 25, 2005. All content created after that date is released under a Creative Commons license which is mentioned at the bottom of each article. This is currently the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.


 

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

  This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Britain%27s_deadly_bug_possibly_imported_from_U.S._or_Canada"