The Clostridium difficile (C diff) hospital bug raises the death risk for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) six-fold, a study has revealed.

Scientists have urged the screening of all IBD patients being admitted for their own protection after finding a strong link between IBD, C diff, and death in hospital.

Examining NHS admission records from 2002 to 2008, the researchers found IBD patients infected with C diff were six times more likely to die than those uninfected. After 30 days, their mortality rate was as high as 25%.

The findings, reported in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, also showed that IBD patients with C diff had longer stays in hospital and were almost twice as likely to need gastrointestinal surgery. Typically they remained in hospital for 26 days, compared with five days for patients not carrying C diff.

Dr Sonia Saxena, one of the researchers from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, said they wanted high-risk patients to be screened on admission for quicker diagnosis and treatment.

IBD, which includes Crohn`s disease and ulcerative colitis, affects about 240,000 people in the UK. The autoimmune conditions cause abdominal pain and diarrhoea, which can require hospital treatment.

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