SOUTHEND Hospital dealt with almost 200 cases of potentially life-threatening sepsis.

Blood tests on patients admitted to hospital between April and October this year revealed 158 patients had deadly E-coli bacteria in the blood and 33 had Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA).

Left untreated, the bacteria can quickly lead to sepsis which can cause death within hours.

If patients survive they may be faced with the loss of limbs.

Most cases were found to have been contracted prior to hospital admission.

Denise Townsend, Director of Nursing at Southend Hospital, said: “Of the 153 patients identified with e.coli bacteraemia, 139 patients acquired bacteraemia in the community.

“Similarly, of the 33 patients identified with Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia, only four were diagnosed as inpatients.”