ANTIBIOTICS handed out to flu sufferers last winter could be behind a surge in tummy bug cases at Swindon’s hospital, doctors have suggested.

Dr Guy Rooney, medical director at the Great Western Hospital, said staff had seen more cases of Clostridium difficile. The bacterial infection causes diarrhoea and fever.

In July, there were two confirmed cases of C diff contracted while the patient was being seen at GWH. So far this year, the there have been 10 cases. The hospital is currently predicted to have had 19 cases by the end of the year.

Describing the infection as a problem for GWH, Dr Rooney said managers were drawing up an action plan to tackle the issue.

At a meeting of the trust’s board of directors, Dr Rooney said the recent flu epidemic was partly to blame: “It’s a complicated picture. One of the key factors is the exposure patients have to broad spectrum antibiotics." This group of drugs are used to target a wide range of bacterial infections

He added: “First of all we had the flu epidemic and therefore people received quite a lot of high-dose antibiotics, as well as getting flu treatment.

“There was also a national shortage of certain antibiotics, which meant we changed to the use of a drug called Coamoxiclav. That potentially gives you an increased risk of C diff.”

There were alternative antibiotics and cycles of drugs available to doctors, but these posed potential for further harm.

Dr Rooney said: “Some of the alternatives include a drug called Gentamisin, which is actually requires a lot of monitoring because it’s a drug that has the ability to affect kidney function and hearing.

“We’re always in this balance around patient safety.”

GWH bosses have commissioned senior doctor Mark Juniper to probe prescription of antibiotics at the Marlborough Road hospital. Dr Rooney told executives: "Everything’s being examined."

There may, however, be good news for doctors. There have been fewer flu cases in Australia so far this summer. As the Australian flu season generally offers a a good indication of the situation in the UK a few months later, GWH chief operating officer Jim O'Connell said there may be cause for celebration.

He said hospital chiefs were not being complacent, however.

Flu vaccinations would be handed out to staff members when they were delivered to the NHS hospital, probably from October or November.

Staff will be given the quadrivalent version of the vaccine, which is able to fight both strains of the flu virus.