An urget call from Dr Chris Steele to the NHS - a simple 60p per day treatment could prevent superbug C. Diff.

Dr Chris Steele describes how to prevent the Superbug C. Diff with 60p per day treatment

Everyone was shocked, last week, by the deaths of 90 patients from the hospital superbug C. Diff. Pictures of gross filth in an NHS hospital were totally disgusting and basically unbelievable. My wife, a nurse, couldn't believe the pictures .. but she's from the 'old school', when the Matron did her daily rounds and wiped her finger over every surface, and inspected the wards and the toilets, to ensure absolute cleanliness.

Now what I cannot believe is that patients are even catching this superbug, despite the poor standards of hospital hygiene. Why? Because they can be protected by a simple treatment that be bought off any supermarket shelf for 60 pence per day!

Let me put you in the picture. Everyone has heard of the superbug MRSA, but, the other superbug is C. Diff (Clostridium difficile) which kills more than twice as many hospital patients as MRSA - in other words it's a bigger killer and therefore more important!
  • C. Diff attacks older patients (over 50) who've been given antibiotics in hospital.
  • C. Diff causes severe diarrhoea along with other symptoms that can kill the patient.
  • Recent scientific research published in the British Medical Journal, revealed that in those patients given a probiotic drink (Actimel) none of them developed C. Diff ... none of them!


So, can you believe it .... that this popular yoghurt drink available in every supermarket shelf protects patients against this killer superbug .. in other words it can save lives, in those, especially those over 50yrs, who are given antibiotics during their hospital stay.

Treating one case of C. Diff costs £4,000! Taking Actimel, twice a day costs 60 pence!! Actimel should be taken during the course of the antibiotic, usually 10 days, plus another 7 days after the antibiotic course if finished. So 17 days of Actimel, costing about £10, could protect your relative against this hospital killer superbug! Nuff said!!!

The Dept of Health could implement this policy of giving every patient on antibiotics on every ward in the UK a carton of Actimel twice daily. This could be put into action within weeks. So come on you boffins in Government - act on this scientific research, NOW! How many more patients need to die before you realise that such a simple intervention, will save lives.

I have no commercial interest in promoting Actimel, all I'm telling you is that a team of scientists at the Hammersmith hospital gave one group of patients a probiotic drink that was in fact, Actimel, and another group a 'blank' yoghurt drink, known as placebo. None of those on Actimel contracted C. Diff - need I say any more?

So until the Dept of Health acts on the proven scientific information out there, I would recommend everyone who has a relative going into hospital, to give them a carton of Actimel twice daily.

I think you should all contact your local newspaper, your local politician, your local Hospital Trust and, most importantly the National Press to spread this message out there. I just can't believe that this information, based on sound scientific evidence in the British Medical Journal has been overlooked. Acting promptly on this information will save lives tomorrow!! Just forward this item to everyone you know!

Dr Chris.
A very concerned doctor!!


This content was created on Mon 15 October 2007

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