Vigilance

July 13th, 2009

Fully two months after we learned of the first case, it seems people are still coming down with the dreaded swine flu.

While it may not have materialised into the terrifying epidemic we first feared, it has certainly left many people all over the country laid low for a week or two.

Sadly, it did contribute to a small number of deaths and if the forecasts are correct, we could be in for a second wave come the end of the summer.

Although it did so in much smaller circles, another bug doing the rounds was the norovirus that struck more than 200 people on board the Marco Polo cruise liner.

It caused plenty of discomfort to those passengers and no doubt ruined what should have been a nice and relaxing break for them.

But it was the insidious rise of another silent bug that had me concerned this week.

C Diff claimed the lives of nine people at our own Inverclyde Royal Hospital and hundreds more around the country.

So the news that the number of cases is still on the up in some parts of Scotland is very concerning.

But we can take some consolation from the positive and industrious way our health workers have responded, driving down the overall number across Scotland.

Inverclyde was far from the worse hit area to suffer from the C Diff bug and the credit there must go to the conscientious doctors, nurses and hospital staff.

That said, there can be no resting on our laurels if the figures from NHS Grampian, NHS Borders and NHS Orkney  this week are anything to go by.

Whether it be swine flu, E-coli, C Diff or a Marco Polo-type norovirus, these invisible bugs are everywhere.

But the real enemy here is complacency and only vigilance can eliminate these avoidable infections from our hospitals, holidays, homes and workplaces.