DUBLIN'S BEAUMONT Hospital has linked the recent deaths of two of its patients to the hospital- acquired infection, Clostridium difficile (C diff).
However, it describes as untrue suggestions that a new strain of the virus has been identified at the hospital.
Beaumont said yesterday it had identified three of the current 17 cases of C diff at the hospital as being the particularly virulent and highly transmissible 027 strain of the virus.
C diff had been confirmed as the cause of death of one patient since July and was a likely contributory factor in the death of another, it said.
The strains of C diff identified in Beaumont are the same as those known to have occurred in the wider acute hospital and community settings, a hospital spokesman stressed.
The spokesman said the hospital had taken the step of issuing a statement because of a number of media queries in recent days wrongly suggesting it had identified a new strain of the virus.
There were 17 cases of C diff at Beaumont, of which three had been confirmed as being the 027 strain, he said. Since mid July, 11 cases of C diff 027 had been identified in the hospital.
A spokesman for Beaumont said it was confident it was doing "everything appropriate and necessary" to address the outbreak of the 027 strain, including the isolation of all cases, enhanced cleaning, restrictions on the use of certain antibiotics that might predispose to the 027 strain and cancellation of non-emergency surgery to reduce occupancy levels.
Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly said the deaths at Beaumont could have been prevented and the Government's failure to address real capacity issues "is costing Irish citizens their lives".
He said "chronic overcrowding" was at the heart of the problem as it made cross-infection very difficult to control.
Infection with C diff is linked to the use of antibiotics to treat other infections, such as pneumonia or blood stream infection. It was made a notifiable disease here in May last and there have been 780 recorded cases since then.
Meanwhile, the Dublin County Coroner's Court heard yesterday that two elderly patients who died at St Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, had both contracted the superbugs MRSA and C diff.
The deaths occurred in August 2006 and October 2007. Coroner Kieran Geraghty said in one case it was not clear where the infection had been contracted.
Dr John Fennell told the court that there had been a significant reduction of the number of cases of C diff at St Columcille's Hospital over the last nine months. He confirmed there were now weekly infection control meetings at the hospital and regular staff lectures in hygiene.