Health bosses have unveiled the latest weapon in the bid to beat potentially fatal superbugs - giving patients yoghurts.

The free pots of pro-biotic yoghurts are being handed to anyone admitted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton who is feared to be at a higher risk of contracting a bug.

Experts believe regularly eating the custard-like food helps balance the bacteria in the stomach which could help make patients less susceptible to infections such as clostridium difficule (C diff).

The scheme is being carried out by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

They are believed to be the first hospitals in Sussex and among the first in country to give out the yoghurts.

Trust medical director Matthew Fletcher said: "We are providing Actimel pro-biotic yoghurt to patients on the wards where we have previously had more cases of C diff.

"There is some evidence to suggest that using these pro-biotics may reduce a patient's risk of C diff and we will be evaluating the difference this has made to the number of cases."

The Royal Sussex has become one of the first hospitals in the country to open a ward dedicated to treating patients who have C diff.

Having patients on a dedicated ward helps to reduce the risk of the bug developing elsewhere in the hospital.

The trust is also in the middle of deep cleaning all ward and clinical areas.

The introduction of pro-biotic yoghurt follows successful research last year into the effects such products have on the body.

Researchers at Imperial College London and Hammersmith Hospital found that commercially available products such as Actimel can fight the C diff infection.

Patients taking part in trials who were given a daily dose of the pro-biotic yoghurt managed to fight off the bug.

Dr Mary Hickson, research dietician at Hammersmith Hospital, said: "This is exciting research as it provides evidence for a new treatment that can be put into practice now and could save the health service money."

Treating a C diff patient with antibiotics can cost £4,000 but the yoghurts cost only £3.50 for a two-week supply.

Jeremy Nicholson, who studied the products at Imperial College London, said: "Our study shows that pro-biotics can have an effect.

"We're still trying to understand what the changes might mean in terms of overall health, but we have established that introducing 'friendly' bacteria can change the dynamics of the whole population of microbes in the gut."

C diff is the major cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and colitis, an infection of the intestines.

The bacterium, which lives in the gut, multiplies rapidly when doses of antibiotics disturb the natural balance of germs in the body, causing severe complications for elderly people and patients already suffering from serious illness.

It produces spores that can survive for a long time in the environment.

The bug is usually spread on the hands of health staff and others who have contact with infected patients.

It comes as Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust launches new staff guidelines on administering antibiotics.

Inappropriate or overuse of certain antibiotics is one of the contributory causes of some infections like C diff.

Mr Fletcher said: "We are absolutely committed to reducing the number of avoidable infections on our wards."

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