Ref. Deadly superbug infections have doubled in Swindon in just a year, latest figures have revealed. While other areas have successfully cut the number of potentially fatal MRSA cases, Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust suffered a dramatic set back.

And medical chiefs say the spread of infection is largely down to ten villains your fingers.

There were 35 superbug incidents in the trust between April 2002 and March 2003, up from 20 in the previous 12-month period.

According to official statistics, patients in Swindon face much greater risks than those in best performing areas.

Dr Adel Abbas, the consultant medical microbiologist at the Great Western Hospital, said the spread of infection could be cut by simple hand washing.

Dr Abbas said: "People carry these bugs around in places like their noses and armpits. They are always there. Infection is spread because people don't wash their hands enough.

"I call the fingers the ten villains. If you think about how often you use your fingers you will realise how easily it gets spread.

"People are always putting their hands to their mouths or noses."

Statistics show Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust has an infection rate of 0.2 per 1,000 bed days, compared to just 0.04 in top-of-the-table York.

That means the chance of infection is five times greater in the Swindon area than in York.

But the figures show Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust is not the worst in the country. In the Weston Area NHS Trust in Somerset the risk of infection is 50 per cent higher.

The figures were released amid increasing concern about the spread of MRSA, or Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and other bugs, which cannot be killed off by antibiotics.

According to estimates up to 5,000 people a year die after contracting the bug in hospital.

Poor cleaning and hygiene are seen as causes of the spread. Dr Abbas added: "Superbugs become resistant to antibiotics. While the other infections are getting killed off, they become stronger."

Health secretary John Reid has backed plans which seek to revolutionise the way potential infections are handled in hospitals and other health care settings.

It includes the call for each trust to employ a Bugs Czar to check staff wash their hands between patients and to ensure antibiotic use is kept to a minimum.

The trust's acting director of human resources, Suzanne Tew-kesbury, said: "We welcome the report and the trust recognises the need to manage infection control. In the trust we will work with the Infection Control Team to follow the guidelines."