TORONTO, March 21 (UPI) -- Antibiotic-resistant "superbug" infections are killing 8,000 patients each year and costing Canadian healthcare systems some $82 million annually
A Canadian Broadcasting Corp. investigation found infection control budgets are the first to be cut when money gets tight, yet the incidence of hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcus known as MRSA has risen tenfold in less than a decade.
Since 2003, bacteria such as Clostridium difficile has killed more than 600 people in the province of Quebec, and some 250,000 Canadians become sick each year from preventable infections, the CBC said.
"People die from these infections, which technically, almost certainly, in many instances can be prevented," said Niagara public health officer Dr. Douglas Sidar.
Infection control budgets involving cleaning and nursing staff are the first items to be cut when hospitals experience a financial crunch, according to Dr. Michael Rachlis, who writes about Canadian healthcare.
