Hospital Superbug Claims 17 Lives

Seventeen deaths at a hospital in Norfolk have been linked with an outbreak of a virulent strain of the superbug Clostridium difficile.

James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, near Great Yarmouth, said the deaths occurred from December 2006 to March this year. Five other patients have undergone major bowel surgery as a result of the infection.

Hospital officials said they were confident the outbreak was contained.

The 027 strain of the bacterium caused several deaths at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Buckinghamshire and more than 80 hospitals in England and Wales have fought outbreaks last year.