Infections from MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C. diff) have fallen by around a third in England and Wales, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has announced.

The number of cases dropped from 2,935 MRSA and 36,095 C. diff infections in those older than two years in 2008/9 to 1,898 and 25,604 respectively between April 2009 and March 2010.

Although the HPA figures were from hospital data, around half of infections were likely to have been acquired outside of the reporting hospital, such as a patient acquiring the infection in the community or residential care home, the HPA said.

The data reinforced the need for infection control and good hygiene at all times, and not just when visiting hospital, Dr Christine McCartney, executive lead for the HPA Healthcare Associated and Antimicrobial Resistance programme said.