MRSA superbug death total 'continues to fall'

Image caption, MRSA deaths peaked in 2006

The annual number of deaths linked to MRSA has fallen again - and is now nearly a quarter of what it was four years ago, official figures show.

Office for National Statistics data showed there were 485 deaths in England and Wales in 2010 where the superbug was mentioned on the death certificate.

The figure represents a 38% fall from 2009 and and is almost four times less than the 1,652 peak recorded in 2006.

Clostridium difficile deaths are also falling.

Last year there were 2,704 deaths linked to the infection, down from the 8,324 recorded in 2007.

For both infections, the most deaths were recorded in the over-85s age group.

It comes as the number of infections being record has hit a record low.

Twenty-five hospital trusts have been free of MRSA for a year, and in June the number of monthly cases dropped below 100 for the first time.

Meanwhile, C difficile cases are down 16% on a year ago.