Fourteen MRSA cases at hospital

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A total of 14 people were struck down by a strain of the superbug MRSA in a hospital during a fatal outbreak, it has been revealed.

Two people died at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, from a strain known as Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL).

Initially a hospital investigation found 11 people had been infected.

Now three more PVL-positive cases have been identified, although the hospital said none had originated since October.

Nurse death

Maribel Espada, 33, a nurse at the hospital, died in September, six days after giving birth.

The other person who died in March was a patient on the ward where Maribel Espada worked.

The Health Protection Agency said it was looking at whether Mrs Espada caught the infection from that patient.

But the University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust said there was no evidence that Mrs Espada contracted the MRSA in the maternity unit of the hospital.

It is perhaps not surprising that a number of additional cases have been identified as a result of this thorough retrospective investigation Dr Sue Ibbotson, Health Protection Agency

It said tests showed she was carrying the superbug when she was admitted.

Mrs Espada's husband Wenn, 30, said he was considering legal action against the hospital over his wife's death.

Of the other 12 people infected, the hospital said seven were hospital workers, one was a former patient, and four were family members and community-based contacts.

All have been or are being treated and are not seriously ill, and the hospital said none of its current patients were affected.

All staff who had come in contact with the two people originally diagnosed with PVL MRSA had been screened by the hospital's infection control team.

Any staff who had the bug underwent a course of decontamination.

Retrospective investigation

Dr Sue Ibbotson, regional director for the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in the West Midlands said: "It is perhaps not surprising that a number of additional cases have been identified as a result of this thorough retrospective investigation.

"We have not discovered any onward transmission of PVL-positive MRSA within the hospital since early October 2006.

"Nor have we to date found any evidence of transmission from the hospital back into the wider community.

"This suggests that the risk to patients and individuals in the community is low."

Julia Bridgewater, chief executive of University Hospital of North Staffordshire said: "News of this outbreak has been alarming but both the HPA and the University Hospital are confident that prompt and appropriate action has been taken to contain the outbreak.