CASES of a potentially fatal superbug have been rising.

Thirty-three patients have tested positive for clostridium difficile (C-diff) while staying at hospitals in Worthing and Chichester since the beginning of April.

A report to Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust board said a recent spike in cases in October meant there was a risk of it breaching its target of having no more than 39 cases by the end of March.

The report said there had been eight cases at Worthing Hospital and two at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester in October,

Investigations into the cases identified there were lapses in care due to dirty commodes and issues with antibiotic prescribing.

A lack of availability of side-rooms also had an impact as isolating a patient who has the bug can help reduce the risk of infections spreading to others.

C-diff causes diarrhoea and colitis, an infection of the intestines.

Elderly patients and those in intensive care are more vulnerable to the disease as they are the ones most often on antibiotics, which can help trigger the infection.

Infections usually respond well to treatment, with most people making a full recovery in a week or two.

However, the symptoms come back in around one in five cases and treatment may need to be repeated.

This can mean a patient having to stay longer in hospital which puts increased demand on the availability of beds.

Trust consultant microbiologist Susie Jerwood said: “Staff at Western Sussex have a constant focus on minimising risks of infection for patients and we responded to last month’s increased incidence of C-diff with a number of additional targeted measures.

“These included daily spot-check auditing with a focus on ward environments and high-risk equipment for C-diff, hand hygiene audits and prioritising affected wards for bio-decontamination cleaning.

“The numbers of cases we see are now back to our usual seasonal levels.”

Across the longer term the trust has more than halved the number of C-diff cases in its hospitals over the past five years.

In 2015/16 it reported 36 cases compared to 76 in 2011/12.