THE Scottish public probably breathed a sigh of relief last week with the news that rates of MRSA and Clostridium difficile are falling in our hospitals.
The figures, from Health Protection Scotland, are, indeed, cause for optimism, as the Scottish Government and health campaigners have pointed out.
But with so many factors affecting rates of these deadly superbugs, we cannot become complacent.
A particularly bad spell of illness this winter, with hospital beds at high occupancy, could be all it takes to send rates rising again.
For this reason, experts are certainly not taking their eyes off the ball when it comes to finding new ways of tackling hospital-acquired infections.
One expert told The Scotsman that a key aim with C difficile was to find out why some patients suffered more than others.
Much attention has been placed on severe strains of the disease, such as 027. But the expert said people with all strains could experience mild to severe levels of disease.
"It's something to do with how the host can respond, and I suppose that has to be genetic, but there could be many variables," he said.
"We now want to look at why one patient can come down with serious disease and another does not, with the same strain."
What remains to be seen is whether there will be enough funding to go round to find out everything the scientists want to know in the fight against infections.
The full article contains 253 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
