While prevention methods appear to be helping to lower hospital infection rates from MRSA, a deadly antibiotic-resistant bacterium, a new superbug is on the rise, according to research from the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network. New data shows infections from Clostridium difficile are surpassing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in community hospitals. “We found that MRSA infections have declined steadily since 2005, but C. difficile infections have increased since 2007,” said Becky Miller, M.D., an infectious diseases fellow at Duke University Medical Center. C. difficile is a multi-drug resistant bacterium that causes diarrhea and in some cases life-threatening inflammation of the colon. The infections are currently treated with one of two antibiotics. But relapses are common and occur in one-quarter of patients despite treatment, according to Miller.......> Full story