A hospital is battling to contain an outbreak of the potentially fatal superbug MRSA.

Fifteen orthopaedic patients at Eastbourne District General Hospital, mostly on the Seaford One ward, have been confirmed as having the infection. A spokesman said all patients showing signs of the infection were responding well to treatment.

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus is referred to as a superbug because it has built up a resistance to antibiotics. It can be successfully treated with more powerful drugs.

Seaford One ward will not be admitting new patients until the infection is dealt with and 15 non-emergency operations have been postponed as a further precaution.

Tests are being carried out to determine whether other patients have been infected. A spokesman for Eastbourne Hospital Trust said the trust had taken "swift and decisive action."

Dr Richard Cooke, consultant in microbiology at Eastbourne Hospitals, said: "MRSA can be on a person's skin without them being affected. However, in a hospital a patient may be too weak to fight infection as a result of illness. That is why we need to make sure this infection does not spread to other patients."

More than 100,000 people a year are infected by potentially fatal bugs while in hospital, according to a report published in February.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.