To combat infections

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) continue to take a toll in Scotland. A ward at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley has been closed to new admissions after the clostridium difficile (C Diff) bacterium contributed to the death of a patient last week and infections in seven others. The outbreak occurred over four weeks and came after C Diff was contracted by 55 patients at Vale of Leven Hospital between December 2007 and June this year. In that outbreak, 18 patients died as a result of the infection.