More failing hospitals 'likely'

19 September 2013 Last updated at 06:17 ET By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt: "People who've led our best all-round hospitals are the perfect people to help"

More hospitals in England are likely to be put in special measures, the health secretary has said as he unveiled the rescue plan for failing trusts.

Jeremy Hunt said the new inspection regime, which began its roll-out this week, would identify more trusts that needed turning around.

His comments came as he set out what support was being given to the 11 trusts already put in special measures.

Managers from top NHS hospitals are to be sent in to lend support.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Andrew Gwynne: "This is not the whole solution. We need to support nurses, clinicians, and support staff"

Bonus payments - from a pot totalling £5.5m - will be available to the successful trusts if standards are raised at failing sites, in a move that echoes the "super-heads" scheme for schools.

Mr Hunt said there were a "handful of inspirational leaders... anxious to help".

He said that management consultants had been favoured in the past, but they had only identified problems - rather than solving them.

Instead, the buddy scheme would last between three to five years, and although he acknowledged the risk of diverting successful managers from their own hospitals, he said that managers' posts would be back-filled.

'Biggest challenges'

But he admitted solving the problems would be difficult.

"Turning around our failing hospital is perhaps one of the biggest challenges we are facing today.

"It is entirely possible, even likely, other hospitals will have to go into special measures," he added.

Continue reading the main story

The 11 trusts in special measures have some common problems that with the help of the star performers in the system should be brought under control.

These include things such as staff shortages, poor IT systems and a lack of clear strategic thinking.

But for some - perhaps most of these trusts - the worry is that such changes will only take them so far.

You do not have to look far to see the major similarity between the failing trusts. They are mostly small, or at best, medium-sized district general hospitals.

Many argue that model is outdated and the future of care lies in larger, super centres - something the successful partner organisations could all claim to be.

The risk now is that the buddy scheme could once again delay attempts to radically overhaul the hospital network.

Dame Julie Moore, chief executive of University Hospitals Birmingham, is one of the managers taking part.

She told the BBC: "I don't think we're talking about upping sticks and abandoning our home base."

Instead, the plan would be more focused on around sharing knowledge and expertise, particularly over IT, she said.

She added her organisation would have no problem attracting good managers to help plug the gaps.

The 11 trusts were placed in special measures after a review by NHS medical director Prof Sir Bruce Keogh, which found evidence of patients being left unmonitored, backlogs in complaints and poor maintenance of operating theatres.

The review looked at the standard of care at the 14 trusts with the worst death rates, following the Stafford Hospital scandal.

Sir Bruce said while the failings were significant they had found nothing on the scale of the Stafford Hospital, where hundreds suffered neglect and abuse.

'Huge potential'

The 11 trusts in special measures have been given the following partners:

• North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust (Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland) - to be partnered with Northumbria
• Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Goole and District Hospital and Scunthorpe General) - partner trust to be confirmed
• Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - to be partnered with University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
• United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust - being partnered with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
• Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - to be partnered with the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
• Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - to be partnered with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
• East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust - to be partnered with Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust - to be partnered with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
• Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - being partnered with Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (specifically on complaints)
• Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust - to be partnered with Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
• Medway NHS Foundation Trust - partner trust to be confirmed

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Steve Jamieson told the BBC that the College of Royal Nursing welcomed the government's new initiative

Prof Chris Ham, chief executive of the King's Fund think tank, said: "Bringing in experienced NHS managers has huge potential as long as they are given enough time to bring about change and have enough resources, and, crucially, their own hospitals are able to have the right leadership while their focus is elsewhere."

He added that previous attempts to use the skills of managers at successful trusts had led to performance at those organisations being dragged down as hospitals were "much more complex than schools".

He said: "We've got to get the detail right - it's got to be a long-term objective.

"In principle if we get it right, it will level up standards, if we get it wrong it could level down standards."

Shadow health minister Jamie Reed said: "This is a management solution, not a front-line solution.

"What Keogh revealed was that many of these trusts have lost staff in recent years and what they need is more nurses on the ground."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Calls to give boys anti-cancer jab

18 September 2013 Last updated at 20:25 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

Schoolboys should be given the HPV vaccine to help protect them from some cancers, according to public and sexual health bodies.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is linked to a range of cancers and a vaccine is already given to girls in the UK to prevent cervical cancer.

The Faculty of Public Health and the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV said boys should be vaccinated.

The Department of Health said there was no plan to extend the programme.

HPV infections are associated with cancer of the penis, vulva, vagina, anus, mouth and throat. It is spread by sexual contact.

In the UK, girls aged 12-13 are offered the HPV jab. Australia is the only country to routinely offer the vaccination to boys and girls.

Prof John Ashton, the head of the Faculty of Public Health, told the BBC: "It seems oral sex has become a very common part of the repertoire in young people and it does seem a likely part of the story of increases in oral cancer.

"We really need to discuss oral sex as part of sex education in schools and to look closely at extending the vaccine to all men."

'Little benefit'

He said the reduced cancer risk would benefit all men, but the strongest case was in gay men.

Reducing the prevalence of the virus in women would have knock-on effects for some men, but not for those having sex only with other men.

Dr Janet Wilson, the president of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, said: "We need to take action to address the lack of protection men who have sex with men receive from the current all-girls HPV vaccination programme.

"It is unfair that they remain unprotected."

However, a Department of Health official said there were "currently no plans to extend HPV vaccination to males, based on an assessment of currently available scientific evidence".

They added: "Vaccination of boys was not recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation because once 80% coverage among girls has been achieved, there is little benefit in vaccinating boys to prevent cervical cancer in girls."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Face veils in hospital under review

19 September 2013 Last updated at 09:35 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

There is to be a review into whether NHS staff in England should be allowed to wear full face veils, according to the Department of Health.

Ministers have asked the doctors' regulator, the General Medical Council, to assess the issue to ensure there is "appropriate" face-to-face contact with patients.

It follows an investigation by the Daily Telegraph which showed 17 hospitals had banned the veil.

There is no national guidance.

Some hospitals say the veil can be worn for religious reasons. The newspaper report showed others in West Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and east London ruled the clothing was not permitted in order to ensure effective communication.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt: "I'd want to be able to see the face of the doctor or the nurse treating me"

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC: "I think it is very important that patients do get proper contact with the doctors and nurses who are looking after them.

"Certainly if I was a patient myself, I'd want to be able to see the face of the doctor or nurse who was treating me."

However, he said hospitals should be able to come up with policies "in a way that is right in their area" and that national guidelines were a "matter for the professional standards bodies" rather than politicians.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust introduced rules banning the full face veil in 2009.

It said the move was to give clear rules to staff and that wearing the full veil was not an issue in the trust, either before or after the ban.

The organisation's chief nurse, Juliette Greenwood, said: "Patients consistently tell us how important good, two-way communication is for them and this is particularly vital for those people with additional needs who rely on visual cues to assist understanding.

"We believe that seeing someone's face when communicating information to patients is therefore an effective and important part of healthcare."

'Low numbers'

There is no clear data on the number of women wearing the full veil in hospitals or for how many would wear the niqab if their hospital had not banned it.

"I think that's because the numbers are extremely low," said Mussurut Zia form the Muslim Women's Network.

She told the BBC: "Nobody's had to think about this until it's reared its head in recent days.

"I think the time is right. We need to have the debate and I do think we need, maybe not something in law, but we do need some guidelines."

Health minister Dr Dan Poulter told the Telegraph: "Being unable to see a health care professional's face can be a barrier to good and empathetic communication with patients and their families.

"That is why I am writing to all health care regulators to ask them to look into this matter and to review their professional regulations, to ensure that there is always appropriate face-to-face contact between health care professionals and their patients."

The shadow health minister, Andrew Gwynne, said the issue was "very sensitive" and that he hoped patients' wishes would be "taken on board by individual hospital trusts".

This week, Home Office minister Jeremy Browne called for a national debate about wearing veils in public places such as schools.

Meanwhile, a judge ruled that a Muslim woman, who had refused to remove her niqab, was told she could stand trial wearing a full-face veil, but must remove it to give evidence.

Judge Peter Murphy said: "The ability of the jury to see the defendant for the purposes of evaluating her evidence is crucial."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Lowest child intensive care deaths

15 September 2013 Last updated at 19:02 ET

Death rates in children's intensive care units are at an all-time low despite increasing admissions, a report has shown.

The Paediatric Intensive Care Audit Network found the death rate was 3.8% in 2012 - despite admissions rising 5% from 18,596 in 2011 to 19,516 in 2012.

But it warned out-of-hours staffing levels were often not being met.

Experts said children should have the best care, whatever time of day or night they were admitted.

The analysis was carried out by a team from the University of Leeds and the University of Leicester who looked at data on admissions, diagnosis, length of stay and outcomes - as well as staffing levels.

Altogether they looked at details of more than 59,000 admissions to paediatric intensive care units in the UK and Ireland from 2010 to 2012.

Just under a third of patients stayed in intensive care for less than 24 hours, while 17% stayed for more than a week.

'Encouraging'

Dr Roger Parslow, from the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Leeds who was part of the research team, said: "With increasing birth rates, the pressure on the paediatric intensive care service has increased but it is clear that standards of care are not dropping in relation to mortality.

Continue reading the main story

Children deserve the same high level of care whatever time of day or night they are admitted to hospital, whether that be Monday at 5pm or Sunday at 3am"

End Quote Dr Hilary Cass Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

The analysis found 90% of units had the required level of medical staffing during the day - one consultant for eight to 10 beds. However, only 60% of units had the required level of cover at night and at the weekends.

Fewer than three quarters of units have adequate nurse staffing levels, with many using agency staff to make up numbers when necessary.

Dr Hilary Cass, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, welcomed the report.

She said: "It is encouraging to see that death rates in children's intensive care units are at an all-time low, despite the number of admissions rising by 5%.

"However, it is clear from today's report, that maintaining adequate levels of staffing through the night remains a concern, with just 60% of units having the recommended level of cover.

"Children deserve the same high level of care whatever time of day or night they are admitted to hospital, whether that be Monday at 5pm or Sunday at 3am.

"So while this report does show improvements, we must not be complacent.

"We must continue to look at ways to improve children's health services by rolling out models of care which we know will provide children with a much better NHS - increasing the consultant workforce so we can provide consultant-led care, which in turn, will drive up quality and save even more lives."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Child cataract blood test developed

15 September 2013 Last updated at 20:11 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

A blood test that may improve treatment for children born with congenital cataracts has been developed by researchers in Manchester.

It analyses every known mutation in the DNA which can cause the condition.

The team, which is presenting the test at the British Society for Genetic Medicine, hope it will spread up diagnosis and help decide the best treatment.

The charity RNIB described the test as a "welcome step forward".

About 200 children are born with cataracts in the UK each year.

"Diagnosing a congenital cataract is very easy at birth, but diagnosing the cause takes considerably longer," Prof Graeme Black, from the University of Manchester, said.

The problem is there are more than 100 different mutations in a child's DNA which have been linked to congenital cataracts.

"If you have a child with no family history then finding the cause can take months or years," he told the BBC.

'Faster treatment'

A complete diagnosis can help doctors work out the best course of treatment, inform families on the risks of cataracts if they have more children or diagnose severe diseases which have cataracts as an early symptom.

At the moment, each mutation has to be tested for individually.

A team of researchers, at Manchester University and the Central Manchester Health Care Trust, has used advances in genetics to look for all the errors in the genetic code in a single test.

Dr Rachel Gillespie said: "Our test looks at all of these genes in parallel, so patients can be diagnosed much faster and receive the treatment, clinical management and genetic counselling they need."

Hospitals in Manchester will begin offering the test from December.

Steve Winyard, from the charity RNIB, said: "This is very interesting research as approximately 200 children in the UK are born with some form of congenital cataract every year.

"Any development which enables children to be diagnosed quicker and gain faster access to treatment is a welcome step forward.

"It will be exciting to watch how this research progresses and how the genetic information might be used to manage congenital cataracts in the future."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syrian medics forced to flee country

16 September 2013 Last updated at 04:53 ET

A group of 50 doctors, including Nobel Prize winners, say Syria's health system is at breaking point as medics are forced to flee the fighting.

The signatories to the letter in The Lancet say it is "arguably one of the world's worst humanitarian crises since the end of the Cold War".

According to the Violations Documentation Centre, 469 health workers are currently imprisoned.

Some 15,000 doctors have left Syria, says the Council on Foreign Relations.

Of the 5,000 physicians in Aleppo before the conflict started, only 36 remain.

Continue reading the main story

Makeshift clinics have become fully fledged trauma centres, struggling to cope with the injured and sick"

End Quote The signatories to the letter in The Lancet

According to the World Health Organization, 37% of Syrian hospitals have been destroyed and a further 20% severely damaged.

"Makeshift clinics have become fully fledged trauma centres, struggling to cope with the injured and sick," says the letter.

It warns that horrific injuries are going untended; women are giving birth with no medical assistance; men, women, and children are undergoing life-saving surgery without anaesthetic; and victims of sexual violence have nowhere to turn to.

"The Syrian population is vulnerable to outbreaks of hepatitis, typhoid, cholera, and dysentery. The lack of medical pharmaceuticals has already exacerbated an outbreak of Cutaneous leishmaniasis, a severe infectious skin disease that can cause serious disability, there has been an alarming increase in cases of acute diarrhoea, and in June aid agencies reported a measles epidemic sweeping through districts of northern Syria," the letter says.

The signatories, which include former WHO chief Gro Harlem Brundtland, demand that medical colleagues in Syria be allowed and supported to treat patients, save lives, and alleviate suffering without the fear of attacks or reprisals.

"We call on the Syrian Government and all armed parties to refrain from attacking hospitals, ambulances, medical facilities and supplies, health professionals and patients," they say.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Livestock 'not salmonella source'

12 September 2013 Last updated at 14:13 ET

Livestock may have been wrongly blamed as being the source of a type of drug-resistant salmonella, a study shows.

UK researchers examined the DNA from 373 humans and animals infected with a specific type of salmonella collected by a Scottish lab over 22 years.

Writing in Science, they say the genetic profiles of the infections in humans and animals were very different.

An epidemic of this strain - Salmonella typhimurium DT104 was seen in animals and humans in the 1990s.

More than 94 million people globally develop food poisoning or gastroenteritis each year after being infected with all types of salmonella.

Drug resistance makes treatments ineffective, causing more complex illness and increased treatment costs.

It had been suggested that such resistance could spread from animals to people via the food chain or through animal waste contaminating the water supply.

'Great surprise'

The team, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, sequenced DNA from people and animals infected with Salmonella typhimurium DT104.

They looked very different, and the human samples were much more complex than those seen in animals - which would have been the reverse had livestock been the source.

Continue reading the main story

Discovering that the animal and human populations of salmonella were as distinguishable as they were was a great surprise to us"

End Quote Prof Stuart Reid, Royal Veterinary College

Prof Nick Thomson, senior author on the study, said: "Our data provide a very simple message, challenging the established view that local animals are the predominant source of salmonella infections in Scotland.

"This finding will reinvigorate discussions on the sources of antibiotic resistant salmonella infections in humans in other environments."

Prof Stuart Reid from the Royal Veterinary College, who also worked on the study, said: "Discovering that the animal and human populations of salmonella were as distinguishable as they were was a great surprise to us."

And he said the research showed "greater efforts" were needed to identify the major sources of resistance for animals and people.

Writing in the same journal, Dr Mark Woodhouse and Dr Melissa Ward from the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Immunology, Infection and Immunity said: "The results suggest that the human and livestock epidemics were largely independent, though with some jumps in both directions between the two populations."

They suggest the drug-resistant strains could have been introduced via imported food products, but say much more research to pin down the actual source is needed.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Call for more urgent sepsis care

12 September 2013 Last updated at 17:58 ET

More must be done to save the lives of patients with sepsis, says a report from the Health Service Ombudsman.

It found significant failings in treatment of the condition, which is caused when the body's immune system overreacts to infection.

It focused on 10 patients who were not treated urgently enough and died.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will produce guidance for GPs and clinicians to help them recognise sepsis at an early stage.

Around 37,000 people are estimated to die of sepsis each year, accounting for 100,000 hospital admissions.

The Ombudsman, who investigates complaints from people who have received poor service from the NHS in England, said diagnosing and treatment presented some real problems because the condition was hard to spot and treat.

Continue reading the main story

'Sepsis was taking over his body'

Jem Abbotts was 37 years old and recovering from a routine operation when he became ill.

He started vomiting and feeling feverish so the GP prescribed antibiotics and he went to bed to recover.

But a few days later he woke up vomiting and was rushed to hospital in a coma, as his organs began to fail.

He had contracted a bacterial infection which had entered his bloodstream, causing a condition known as sepsis.

Sepsis can lead to swelling and blood clotting - and cause internal organs to stop working.

The most common causes of severe sepsis are pneumonia, bowel perforation, urinary infection, and severe skin infections.

Julie Mellor, the Health Service Ombudsman, said it was time for the NHS to act.

"In the cases in our report, sadly, all patients died. In some of these cases, with better care and treatment, they may have survived.

"We have worked closely with NHS England, NICE, UK Sepsis Trust and Royal Colleges to find solutions to the issues identified in our report. NICE and NHS England have already agreed to take forward the recommendations of our report.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

We know it is not easy to spot the early signs of sepsis, but if we learn from these complaints... then lives can be saved "

End Quote Julie Mellor Health Service Ombudsman

"We know it is not easy to spot the early signs of sepsis, but if we learn from these complaints and work to improve diagnosis and provide rapid treatment, then lives can be saved."

The report recommended improving the recognition and treatment of sepsis by providing medical staff with clear clinical guidance.

She also recommended that NHS England launch a public awareness campaign which targets vulnerable groups of patients, such as those who are weak or in hospital.

Clinical staff should attach more importance to listening to the relatives of patients since they can be the first to recognise the patient's deterioration, she said, and more senior doctors should be involved in patient care.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Charles Turton, clinical advisor with the Health Service Ombudsman: "Patients in the early stages can look quite well"

Simple life-savers

Dr Ron Daniels, chairman of the UK Sepsis Trust, said there was a straightforward solution.

Continue reading the main story

Facts about sepsis

• Sepsis is a more common reason for hospital admission than heart attack - and has a higher mortality.
• The most common causes of severe sepsis are pneumonia, bowel perforation, urinary infection, and severe skin infections.
• The most common signs of sepsis are a high fever, violent shivering, fainting, cold and pale hands, rapid breathing, confusion or delirium.
• 37,000 people are estimated to die of sepsis each year in the UK.
• From the time sepsis first takes hold, healthcare workers have just hours to deliver the right care.

"The best hospitals have achieved better outcomes from sepsis by adopting a simple set of life-saving measures, collectively known as the Sepsis 6, and ensuring that a culture of awareness around sepsis has been created.

"We now need to spread this awareness to other health professionals and to the public, and to underpin this with guidance from NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence."

He said the recommendations would potentially save 12,500 more lives every year.

Dr Mike Durkin, NHS England's director of patient safety, said the NHS would use the findings to work with GPs and hospitals to reduce deaths from sepsis.

"This report and guidance will help us to build on the work that is already in place to emphasise the importance of education, early detection and prompt treatment.

"We all need in every setting to understand the importance of identifying deterioration in both adults and children, in reducing the admission of full-term babies to neonatal care and identifying problems in vulnerable older people in the first 48 hours of acute illness."

Dr Peter Carter, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said the report showed the tragic consequences of sepsis.

"It is vital that all staff are provided with training and support to enable them to recognise the signs and symptoms of sepsis, and crucially to know how to act quickly when sepsis is diagnosed."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nuclear plants 'no cancer risk'

13 September 2013 Last updated at 00:11 ET

Children living near nuclear power plants do not have an increased risk of developing leukaemia, a study says.

Experts looked at data on 10,000 children diagnosed under five between 1962 and 2007, and where they lived.

The British Journal of Cancer study is not the first to rule out a link - but previous studies' methods were challenged.

Cancer Research UK said the results were "heartening" but added monitoring should continue.

Leukaemia is the twelfth most common cancer in the UK, but accounts for a third of all cancers diagnosed in children.

Around 500 new cases were diagnosed in children under the age of 15 in 2010 in the UK.

Concern over a link between nuclear power plants and childhood cancers was triggered in the early 1980s when a TV investigation reported a higher number of cases among children living near the Sellafield plant in Cumbria.

Since then, there have been conflicting reports from studies in the UK and the rest of Europe as to whether there is a link.

Some anti-nuclear groups have criticised the way previous studies have been carried out.

They point to a German study which suggested there could be a link.

'No correlation'

In this latest study, carried out using the same method as the German one, experts from the Childhood Cancer Research Group in Oxford looked at data on almost 10,000 children who were diagnosed with leukaemia or similar cancers in Britain between 1962 and 2007 when aged five or under.

Continue reading the main story

The incidence of childhood leukaemia near nuclear installations in Great Britain has been a concern ever since the 1980s "

End Quote Dr John Bithell, Childhood Cancer Research Group

The data was taken from the National Registry of Childhood Tumours, which has kept records on nearly all children diagnosed with cancer since 1962 and which is linked to birth records for children born in Britain.

They looked at where these children were born and where they lived when they were diagnosed.

They also compared the information with data on more than 16,000 children with different cancers.

The study found there was no apparent increased risk of developing childhood leukaemia or non-Hodgkin lymphoma among children living near nuclear power plants.

Dr John Bithell, honorary research fellow at the Childhood Cancer Research Group who led the study, said: "The incidence of childhood leukaemia near nuclear installations in Great Britain has been a concern ever since the 1980s when an excess of cancer in young people near Sellafield was reported in a television programme.

"Since then, there have been conflicting reports in the UK and Europe as to whether there is an increased incidence of childhood cancer near nuclear power plants.

"Our case-control study has considered the birth records for nearly every case of childhood leukaemia born in Britain and, reassuringly, has found no such correlation with proximity to nuclear power plants."

Cancer Research UK said the study did support previous findings, but said its small numbers and the fact it did not look at plants which carried out other work such as fuel processing - plus the finding of an increased risk in the German study - meant more work was needed.

Hazel Nunn, head of health information, said: "It's heartening that this study supports the findings of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), that being born or living near a nuclear power station doesn't lead to more cases of leukaemia and similar cancers in children under five in the UK.

"But these results can't rule out any possible risk, so it's still important that we continue to monitor both radiation levels near nuclear power plants and rates of cancer among people who live close by."

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Livestock 'not salmonella source'

12 September 2013 Last updated at 14:13 ET

Livestock may have been wrongly blamed as being the source of a type of drug-resistant salmonella, a study shows.

UK researchers examined the DNA from 373 humans and animals infected with a specific type of salmonella collected by a Scottish lab over 22 years.

Writing in Science, they say the genetic profiles of the infections in humans and animals were very different.

An epidemic of this strain - Salmonella typhimurium DT104 was seen in animals and humans in the 1990s.

More than 94 million people globally develop food poisoning or gastroenteritis each year after being infected with all types of salmonella.

Drug resistance makes treatments ineffective, causing more complex illness and increased treatment costs.

It had been suggested that such resistance could spread from animals to people via the food chain or through animal waste contaminating the water supply.

'Great surprise'

The team, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, sequenced DNA from people and animals infected with Salmonella typhimurium DT104.

They looked very different, and the human samples were much more complex than those seen in animals - which would have been the reverse had livestock been the source.

Continue reading the main story

Discovering that the animal and human populations of salmonella were as distinguishable as they were was a great surprise to us"

End Quote Prof Stuart Reid, Royal Veterinary College

Prof Nick Thomson, senior author on the study, said: "Our data provide a very simple message, challenging the established view that local animals are the predominant source of salmonella infections in Scotland.

"This finding will reinvigorate discussions on the sources of antibiotic resistant salmonella infections in humans in other environments."

Prof Stuart Reid from the Royal Veterinary College, who also worked on the study, said: "Discovering that the animal and human populations of salmonella were as distinguishable as they were was a great surprise to us."

And he said the research showed "greater efforts" were needed to identify the major sources of resistance for animals and people.

Writing in the same journal, Dr Mark Woodhouse and Dr Melissa Ward from the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Immunology, Infection and Immunity said: "The results suggest that the human and livestock epidemics were largely independent, though with some jumps in both directions between the two populations."

They suggest the drug-resistant strains could have been introduced via imported food products, but say much more research to pin down the actual source is needed.

21.24 | 0 komentar | Read More